After the sprawling scope and pyrotechnic style of his Booker Prize-nominated Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell could have delivered nothing more surprising than this charming, quiet novel about a 13-year-old boy. In 13 connected stories that take place in 1982, young Jason Taylor describes his perilous trek through schoolyard trials, his budding interest in girls and the simmering tension between his parents. Straddling the wonders of childhood and the anxieties of adulthood, he speaks to us in a voice that mingles insight and naiveté -- not too cute, not too slick. The result is a novel that's alternately nostalgic, funny and heartbreaking. - The Washington Post Book World
