Connect the Dots

by Keith Calabrese Narrated by Matt Godfrey

Overview

Liar & Spy meets The Parker Inheritance in this whimsically complex story about human connection and the power we all have to determine our own fate.

Is there anything more random than middle school? Sixth graders Oliver and Frankie don't think so. Their first few weeks have been full of weirdness -- lunchtime thievery, free beef jerky, and Matilda, the mysterious new girl who knows everything about them, but has a lot to learn about making friends.But what if none of it is random at all? What if a reclusive genius is keeping an eye on them and making sure the tiny pieces of his puzzle fall into place, one by one, until strange, seemingly unconnected incidents snowball totally out of control? Imagine the odds! First a cardamom shortage takes down the school bully. Then a giant dog leads to some extracurricular spying. Soon Oliver is being followed and Matilda is hacking the FBI. And by the time they discover a gang of angry clowns and the world's largest game of Mousetrap, an insanely brilliant plan has been set in motion that will change their lives forever.Connect the Dots is an intricately plotted story about the power of human connection and a chain of "coincidences" so serendipitous they must be destiny at work.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

* "There are plenty of surprises in this caper with heart." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Witty, assured, and full of heart, this book...is all sorts of fun." -- Wall Street Journal

"Readers will enjoy this tale of adventure and friendship." -- School Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2020-02-09
What are the odds of a life-or-death mystery in Elk Grove Park, Illinois?

Sixth graders Oliver Beane, whose parents divorced last year, and Frankie Figge, whose working parents often leave him in charge of his twin toddler brothers, will never be popular. When a new, weird girl named Matilda Sandoval moves to town and sort of befriends them, it seems a good fit. But she is sure someone is surveilling Oliver. It can’t have anything to do with the mysterious disappearance of Preston Oglethorpe, their middle school’s eccentric-genius namesake, can it? The trio decides to find him themselves and sort things out. Oglethorpe’s research into chaos theory had given him a mechanism to predict—even influence—events using mathematical equations. Some odd things are happening around town: There’s a rock band forming in the old folks’ home and a new man in Oliver’s mother’s life. Is there a pattern? Maybe the kids aren’t the only ones on Oglethorpe’s trail...and the competition may be deadly. Following A Drop of Hope (2019), Calabrese’s smartly written sophomore effort is a Rube Goldberg–ian romp sure to please brainy kid readers with its trio of protagonists. All the kid characters have real-world problems on top of dealing with a possibly evil genius and wannabe supervillains, grounding the narrative nicely. Some Spanish surnames notwithstanding, the cast appears to be a mostly white one.

There are plenty of surprises in this caper with heart. (Mystery. 8-12)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940179022770
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	05/05/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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