The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman

Duncan is new at school, and very soon acquires the undesirable nickname "Lunch Meat." He hates not fitting in, so he reveals that he has a special power. This catches the attention of a kid from the Scrabble club, and he finally sees his "in" with the rest of the kids. The problem is, his "in" requires using his special power to cheat at a national Scrabble tournament. But if he wins, it will all be worth it.

April Blunt is the only non-jock in a family of jocks. All she wants to do is win the national Scrabble tournament to prove to the rest of her family that Scrabble is actually a sport, too. Oh, and she also wants to find this kid that she met at a motel pool 3 years ago to whom she introduced the game of Scrabble. The problem is, she doesn't know his name or where he's from or really anything about him at all.

All Nate Saviano wants to do is hang out and skate, and go to public school. In fact, his rich dad even built a skate park for him in their apartment. The problem is, his rich dad has also decided he wants to home school Nate; and by home school, he really means prepare him to win the national Scrabble tournament to make up for his own loss at the tournament when he was Nate's age. Nate thinks that just maybe if he wins, his dad will let him go back to public school.

Who, if any of them, will win the tournament? Will Duncan use his power to fit in with the rest of the kids? Is there a chance that April could meet the boy from oh-so-long-ago at the tournament? Will Nate ever get to go back to public school? Your kid will need to read The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman, by Meg Wolitzer, to find out.

This is a great book about difficult choices, friendship, and family. I recommend it for about 3rd or 4th grade and up.