Eleven

By Patricia Reilly Giff

Rating: 4 stars

Sam is turning 11 years old, but for some reason, the number eleven scares him. Then he finds in the attic a newspaper clipping with a picture of him as a three year old with a different last name and the word "missing." Missing? Was Mack, the grandfather he lived with, not really his family? There's more, in a locked box. And he keeps having dreams; dreams of shouting, dreams of being wet in a storm, dreams of a castle, dreams of the number eleven. To help him figure out the clues to his past, Sam enlists Caroline, a new girl in his classroom. A struggling reader, Sam figures it will help to have someone who can read well. Sam and Caroline's friendship develops much like the pieces of the mystery to Sam's past until there is a point where all of their relationships hang in the balance and Sam must make the final effort to know the truth. Readers' interest will be held by the various clues as well as by the likeable Sam and Caroline which all combine to make an enjoyable tale about finding out about who you were so you can move forward to be who you are.