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School Library Journal
Reviewed on June 1, 2010
Gr 8-Up Alton Richards is resigned to spending a slow summer on his own after his girlfriend leaves him for his best friend and he finds himself with no money and no job. Unfortunately, his mother insists that he become his blind great-uncle's chauffeur and cardturner at local bridge tournaments. Though the 17-year-old has only met Lester Trapp on a few occasions, his mother hopes that this connection will inspire the wealthy old man to write the family into his will. Alton reluctantly agrees, even though he knows nothing abou...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Magazine
Reviewed on May 1, 2010 |
When Alton's reputedly rich great-uncle Lester Trapp offers him a job as driver, Alton's parents insist he take it—they really want to be named in Trapp's will. Trapp has become blind due to diabetes, and he needs Alton not only to drive him to his beloved bridge club but also to serve as his "cardturner," telling Trapp what cards he has so the old man can make the right plays. Or play the right tricks, as bridge lingo would have it—and there is a lot of bridge and its rules, rituals, and strategies in this b...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Guide
Reviewed on January 1, 2010
Alton serves as his reputedly rich great-uncle Lester Trapp's "cardturner," telling Trapp what cards he has so the old man can m...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Junior Library Guild
Reviewed on August 1, 2010
Louis Sachar invests The Cardturner with his trademark sense of humor—droll, warm, and attuned to his characters’ foibles. “According to my mother, we were Uncle Lester’s closest living relatives,” Alton narrates. “By this, I think she meant we lived the closest . . .” Alton is a genuinely likable narrator, and his intergenerational relationship with Trap...Log In or Sign Up to Read More