Many of you may have received an email from the American Bar Association plugging a book called Leapholes by James Grippando, who has written a number of popular novels for grownups. But Leapholes is for young readers (middle-school young, not new-associate young). Here's how the ABA blurb describes this book:
Leapholes is the fascinating story of Ryan Coolidge, a boy who hates middle school and who is in the worst kind of trouble -- trouble with the law. The one person who can help Ryan is a mysterious old African-American lawyer named Hezekiah. Hezekiah may have magical powers, or he may have the most elaborate computerized law library ever conceived. Either way, together, Ryan and Hezekiah do their legal research by zooming through "leapholes," physically entering the law books, and coming face-to-face with actual people from some of our nation's most famous cases--like Rosa Parks and Dred Scott--who will help Ryan defend himself in court.
I understand how important it is that kids learn about the Dred Scott case, but I'm not really sure that Ryan and Hezekiah actually want Dred to help in court. Hey, Dred, we're proud to have you here with us at the table, but why don't you let Hezekiah do the talking, okay?
The mysterious Hezekiah, who I assume will be played by Morgan Freeman in the movie version of Leapholes, must be pretty damn mysterious if it is that hard to tell whether he has magical powers or just a really "elaborate computerized law library." I would guess it's the former because our library is pretty good but this kind of thing never happens to me. Although with most of the cases I have to read, I don't even want to be near the book, let alone come face-to-face with anybody involved in the case. I can think of a few cases for which the line to use the leaphole would be pretty long, I suppose.
Westlaw and Lexis, what do you guys think about people physically entering your law books? And did these two pay by the minute like I have to?
Anyway, this probably is a great book for middle-schoolers, and maybe it will (eventually) help with the public image of the profession. Order it for $15.95 from the ABA link below, or just leap into it if your library is good enough.
Link: ABA "Best Sellers"
