Patrick Anderson
Richardson tells all this with style -- The Wrong Hands is far better written than most novels for adults. His plot has many nice twists, and his prose sparkles, particularly in the scenes where Graham soars above London: "The chopper was still there, somewhere in the background, but I had got away, and now I laughed, laughing to the moon, which popped up on my left like a big white half-eaten peach with no visible means of support."
— The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
This lush tale of magical realism is rendered all the more charming by the lively and, at times, mesmerizing Yorkshire accent conjured by theater-trained narrator Morton. Even his breathing seems tinged with a cockney sound. Morton easily animates 14-year-old Graham Sinclair a provincial kid with deformed hands and a secret, struggling to make sense of an increasingly hectic modern world. After saving a baby from a plane crash in London, Graham finds his life populated by various characters, some of them less than savory. Morton does an admirable job of impersonating them through Graham's offbeat perspective, though American ears may detect little difference between certain accents. Richardson's prose is soaring and Technicolor, peppered with youth slang, Briticisms and outlandish metaphor. But Morton doesn't let himself get carried away with the oft-wondrous language. Instead, he delivers a singular voice that's both grounded and free-floating, and may well resonate long after the tale has ended. Ages 13-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up-British teen Graham Sinclair, 14, was born with large, strange hands that have folds between the fingers like the inside of a closed umbrella. He endures the accompanying shame and ridicule because he has an amazing secret: he can make his hands grow even more and then use them to fly. The one time he attempts to share this fact with someone, she thinks he's trying to molest her, and he pays dearly: he becomes a registered sex offender, and his already unstable mother descends further into mental illness. Needing a break, his parents send him to London to work for his manipulative Uncle George. The boy is less conspicuous there, until a plane crashes right in front of him, and he's hailed as a hero for rescuing a baby. Then he gets a cryptic e-mail from a woman who witnessed the rescue, which involved his flying. She demands an explanation. Can he trust this stranger with the truth? There's a lot of British slang but no glossary. This novel, with its elements of magical realism, is more introspective than action packed, and has an ambiguous ending. But, for those who like David Almond's novels or Kevin Brooks's works, particularly Kissing the Rain (Scholastic, 2004), it will be worth the read.-Sharon Rawlins, NJ Library for the Blind and Handicapped, Trenton Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Graham Sinclair has very odd hands. Exactly how they're different is vague, but the repercussions of having these "wrong" hands are not. He's called "Spakky" and "Perv" and his own dad ignores him while his mother develops her own issues around his rejection from the community. They send Graham to London to live with his uncle, whose supervision is somewhat spotty. When a plane crashes in the neighborhood, Graham's hands are the source of a miraculous, but secret rescue of a baby. Complications ensue when an observer, Jennifer Smith, appoints herself his handler and publicist. That she is a classy embodiment of all his fantasies about women blinds Graham to her manipulations. Feeling like a freak, self-absorbed and inhabiting his own version of the world leaves Jennifer's power over him unchecked until accusations of murder heighten the stakes. It's flight or face the music, and Graham's choices are as inevitable as they are surprising. A riveting psychological exploration of mutant powers grounded in the sad realities of everyday life. (Fiction. YA)
From the Publisher
Part thriller, part fable, The Wrong Hands has elements of magic realism reminiscent of Skellig and a teenage narrator with the kind of ingénue voice that marked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. . . . An intriguing read.”—The Sunday Telegraph (London)
“Hugely entertaining.”—The Independent (U.K.)
“Sharp and knowing and funny.”—The Sunday Times (U.K.)
From the Hardcover edition.
DEC 06/JAN 07 - AudioFile
Fourteen-year-old Graham Sinclair’s large, unusual hands make him a target of unrelenting daily harassment. His mother insists the name-calling allows him a better life than he would have if the secret of his hands got out. With a heavy Yorkshire accent, Euan Morton relates this unusual story of a young man trying to see his talent as a gift, not a disability. Employing a forthright, unemotional tone for Graham’s voice, he draws the listener into this surreal mystery. This is a complex story and when you factor in the regional accent, the listener needs to pay close attention. Just when you feel totally lost, Morton shines a little light on the goings-on. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
