Walter Lavender Jr. is a 12-year-old with a motor speech disorder, a brain pathway dysfunction that prevents him from producing the words he wishes to speak. This keeps him mostly silent--trapped as a perpetual "observer, separated from everyone else and unable to be part of the story." Walter may be isolated and withdrawn, but this "crazy, weird, genius kid"--with a penchant for wearing high-top sneakers--is very bright and fully comprehending. Over the years, he's learned to adapt and cultivate an uncanny sense of perception: he can readily pick up clues and make connections others often miss. This turns him into a sought-after expert at finding lost things. Walter, having solved 84 cases, has proven successful in reuniting pets, fashion accessories, electronic devices, cherished heirlooms and even valuable musical instruments with their rightful owners. Despite finding other people's prized possessions, a great sense of loss marks Walter's own life. His hard-working, single mother, Lucy Lavender, has regaled her son with stories about his father, an airline co-pilot who disappeared on a flight en route to Bombay just three days before Walter was born. This absence shapes the boy's life as he longs for the day his father will finally find his way back to them.
In the meantime, Walter skirts bullies at school and spends time at The Lavenders, his mother's eclectic bakery in the West Village of New York City. Devoted patrons believe the desserts are magical--the angel food cake is light enough to whisk away pounds, and carefully crafted marzipan dragons breathe fire. The centerpiece and good luck charm of the success of the bakery, however, is a treasured, leather-bound manuscript--an illustrated winter's tale of lost love. When the book goes missing, the shop takes a nosedive: the magic suddenly evaporates from the desserts, business drops off, a French bakery opens a few doors away and the landlord threatens to double the rent at The Lavenders. Fearful that all will be lost, Walter commences his 85th--and most personally challenging--case. He takes a journey to recover the treasured leather book, believing that if he can find it, he can save the shop and restore its former glory.
With straightforward prose, Sophie Chen Keller tells this insightful story from Walter's singular point of view. He sets off with Milton--his overweight, dessert-loving golden retriever--on a quest that takes them into the dark nooks and crannies of New York. There they meet a diverse set of misfits, including a bottle thief, a childless couple who feed rats and a man missing his pinkie fingers. Through each encounter with the rejected and shunned, the disappointed and heartbroken, Walter finally discovers his own voice. This is a feel-good, message-driven story about the restorative power of human connectedness and how acts of kindness can ultimately change lives. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines.
Shelf Talker: A gifted, fatherless boy with a communication disorder goes on a quest to save his mother's magical bakery.