Book: Theodore Boone: The Accomplice
Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Hodder
Pages: 230; Price: Rs 299
This latest title in John Grisham’s Theodore Boone series finds its titular 13-year-old protagonist taking on the case of his childhood friend Woody Lambert as he fights to clear his name when arrested for being an accomplice to armed robbery. When he and his 17-year-old older brother Tony find themselves in the same car with 18-year-old Garth Tucker, little do they know the seriousness of the events that would follow: particularly when Garth decides to get down from the car, enter a convenience store with a water pistol, and rob the establishment of cash and beer. \
Innocent of the charges being placed on him but powerless against a legal system which doesn’t take kindly to young teens with little means and an unstable family life, Woody turns to his classmate and old friend Theodore Boone for help, before his life is set back by the prospect of juvenile prison. Theodore compensates for his lack of a courtroom license with his extraordinary legal acumen, relentless determination and most importantly, his compassion, as he works behind the scenes to help his friend get a fair trial.
Grisham’s series, written specifically for young adults, began in 2010 with Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer; nine years and five books later, his most recent endeavor is just as crisp and entertaining as the first. The pacing of the text is taut, without compromising on characterization. Theodore’s gaze is eagle-eyed and yet concerned, as he watches and eventually intervenes in the predicament of his friend Woody.
Nevertheless, the novel doesn’t shy away from the realities that may have faced both Woody and his brother without the intervention of Theo and the others who care about him: falling through the cracks of a flawed system before they would ever get a chance to fulfill their true potential. Indeed, Woody is already threatened from every side possible, from violent cellmates to ruthless bondsmen, to the scheming high-end lawyer hired by Garth’s wealthy family, Clifford Nance, to throw Woody and Tony under the bus to preserve Garth’s “future” and “reputation”: those infamous, dubious entities so valuable to the powerful, while costing countless innocents their own.
At the same time, Grisham ensures that the spotlight never leaves his prize character, and Theo’s grit and poise in the face of pressure shines not only in the affection and care that he shows for his friend’s case, but a very amusing episode where he defends a schoolmate’s delinquent rabbit in Animal Court. In the sections where it centers on the adults directing the course of events, the novel is still careful to paint them through the perspective of the teenagers – themselves half-adults -- whose lives will be changed by their actions: human beings with their own limitations and ulterior motives.
When Nance’s ploys threaten the brief ray of hope for Woody and Tony’s trials, it is Theo who rallies together all of the adults who can help out his friends, as well as the moral courage to help them do the right thing. In Theodore Boone: The Accomplice, justice is served to readers of all ages and sensibilities, with generous portions of quality prose and engaging plot on the side.
