Connect the Dots

by Keith Calabrese

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338354041
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/01/2022
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	480,669
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Keith Calabrese is an author and screenwriter who holds a degree in creative writing from Northwestern University. A former script reader, he lives in Los Angeles with his wife, kids, and a dog who thinks he's a mountain goat.

Editorial Reviews

* "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

From the Publisher

05/01/2020

Gr 3–7—When improbabilities abound, super smart sixth graders Oliver Beane and his best friend, math whiz Frankie Figge, decide to delve deeper. Their lives get more complicated when new girl Matilda Sandoval arrives, announcing that her passions are modern surveillance techniques and computer encryption. With an insightful eye, Matilda informs Oliver that he is being followed and that someone is spying on him and his mom. Soon Oliver realizes that everyone he cares about is in danger. Who can he turn to? Calabrese is a gifted storyteller, adept at character building and dialogue in this tech-centric mystery. VERDICT Readers will enjoy this tale of adventure and friendship.—Lisa Gieskes, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC

School Library Journal

Narrator Matt Godfrey embodies the lighthearted fun of this science and technology-based adventure. The audiobook’s mystery surrounds the brilliant Preston Oglethorpe, an eccentric genius whose mathematical understanding of chaos theory allows him to predict and change events in the future. His mysterious disappearance means nothing to a trio of sixth-grade friends—Oliver, Matilda, and Frankie—until Matilda notices that Oliver is being followed by the same car every day after school. Through Matilda’s passion for spying and computer hacking and Frankie’s insightful observation of a series of uncanny coincidences, the kids connect the dots to Preston Oglethorpe and realize that they are all in danger. With distinct voices differentiating the characters, Godfrey keeps the plot moving and brings heart to this enjoyable story. S.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2020 - AudioFile

Narrator Matt Godfrey embodies the lighthearted fun of this science and technology-based adventure. The audiobook’s mystery surrounds the brilliant Preston Oglethorpe, an eccentric genius whose mathematical understanding of chaos theory allows him to predict and change events in the future. His mysterious disappearance means nothing to a trio of sixth-grade friends—Oliver, Matilda, and Frankie—until Matilda notices that Oliver is being followed by the same car every day after school. Through Matilda’s passion for spying and computer hacking and Frankie’s insightful observation of a series of uncanny coincidences, the kids connect the dots to Preston Oglethorpe and realize that they are all in danger. With distinct voices differentiating the characters, Godfrey keeps the plot moving and brings heart to this enjoyable story. S.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2020 - AudioFile

★ 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)

Kirkus Reviews