Here is the story of child ‘proddity’ – Rico- who solves his friend’s kidnapping by Mr. 2000 , a serial child kidnapper. Because Rico is a child himself and Oscar is his friend, he picks up on clues an adult police officer would probably overlook. Steinhofel’s two quirky main characters keep the story moving and the mystery unfolding at a nice pace.

A child ‘proddity’ in Rico’s own words, “… means that I think a lot but not particularly quickly… that doesn’t mean I’m stupid…Sometimes a few things go missing from my brain, but I don’t know when and where until it happens.”

Written for a middle school audience with character details :”…people stare at Mom …She looks fantastic… wears short skirts and low-cut tops. High-heeled, silver or gold strappy sandals… (page 9) , divorced lady -Rico’s babysitter- drinking whiskey (page 2) , and “But mostly he’s just drunk and it’s the booze talking” (page 77) or for a European audience. Translated from the German  by Chantal Wright.