WORD NERD

Take a twelve year old male with a peanut allergy, give him an odd name (Ambrose), an overprotective mother, a father who died before he was born, add a tale of woe with 3 horrid adolescent males in the school and bang, you've got E-T-O-L-B-R-U ... a 7 letter word.  You'll figure it out.

Ambrose is likeable.  His mother isn't.  Ambrose needs to get a life, because mom keeps pulling him away from life.  She's keeping him safe.  So when she removes him from school because she's scared for his life, he has to take matters into his own hands or die of something other than a peanut allergy. 

O-E-D-M-O-B-R

Ambrose taking things into his own hands means he makes a few unlikely friends (ex-con, older landlords, Scrabble club), learns about life (winning and losing), and takes a huge risk in order to keep what he's finally got -- the ability to figure out who he is.

Author:  Susin Nielsen

Publisher:  Tundra Books

Reviewed by Brigitte, mom