This has been on my TBR for a long time and I finally can moved it to the read pile. While I enjoyed the witty elements of the character dialogue, there were elements of the plot that were predictable. Also, other male characters often spoke for  Beth, a bright character who I felt could (should?) speak for herself. This imbalance was bothersome.

It was too predictable for me. Too easy. I thought it was enjoyable to read, and the concept was cool, but it won't have a lasting impact on me in the slightest. I'm saying that a year after I actually finished reading this, and just forgot to put in my feedback.

Lost and Found looks to be a fantastic new series from Card. Pegged as a petty thief since he was very young, Ezekiel Blast hates his ability. But maybe now that he has found some good people that believe him when he says that lost things just call out to him, Ezekiel can find a way to grow his abilities and use them to help, because there's a little girl missing. If Ezekiel can't find her, she may be lost forever.

I didn't enjoy this there was just something offputting.  In this case I found that his writing was not up to par as I have enjoyed his works in the past.

I kept going back to check that I hadn’t downloaded the wrong book while I was reading this — was Lost and Found really by Orson Scott? Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card? Enchantment Orson Scott Card? And it really is, but this realistic middle grades fiction feels like a lukewarm departure for Card. Ezekiel has a knack for finding lost things, so when his new friend — his first friend — goes missing, he wonders if he can use his talent to find her, too. There is a lot going on in this book — people think Ezekiel is a thief because he’s so good at returning missing things, there’s a mystery about his friend Beth's life (oh, and she has proportional dwarifism), and there's a research study going on for kids who have unusual gifts, and there's a child pornography ring, and another missing girl, and -- well, I told, you, there's a lot. Too much, maybe? But the result is that it ends up feeling like not quite enough. In a way it feels like the pilot episode of a television series: There’s a ton of set-up, lots of character and backstory introduction, and a Big Problem to solve — but really, not that much happens because the point is introducing all that stuff. So not a hit for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book. I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into this book, but it had an interesting premise and I have loved other books written by Orson Scott Card. The main character of this book is Ezekiel Blast has a power to find lost things and return them to their owners. However, this has caused a whole host of problems in his life, mostly with people thinking he stole the lost items in the first place. Enter his new, only friend, Beth- who is a proportionate dwarf who has skipped a few grades, and wants him to try to strengthen his power and use it to do good, like maybe find missing people. This book was definitely interesting, though it does slow down a bit at parts. The characters while not exactly relatable, are entertaining, and the book focuses on how they grow and change through becoming friends. I would recommend this book for anyone that wanted a slightly off the wall book about people who are different.

I didn’t enjoy this book much as I felt lost most of the time.

The ton of the book was just sad - especially with the bullying.

Not for me.

Author Orson Scott Card (http://www.hatrack.com/) published the novel “Lost and found” in 2019. Mr. Card has published more than 70 novels.

I categorize this novel as “R” because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Situations. The story is set in the contemporary US. The primary character is 14-year-old Ezekiel Bliss. Bliss has had a troubled past. He can sense lost objects and then knows who they belong to. Early on this got him labeled as a thief and is now somewhat ostracized by his classmates.

As he begins his Freshman year of High School, a girl starts following, then walking with him to school. That is how he meets Betty 'Beth' Sorenson. Sorenson annoys Bliss at first, but after a while, she grows on him. Bliss gets involved with a group looking at micro powers. He meets others who each have a useless power. A detective who is looking for a missing girl approaches Bliss hoping he can help him find her.

At first, Bliss turns him down, but he eventually decides to help, due much to Sorenson's influence. Bliss's abilities don't work well with finding someone. He has to try various indirect approaches to the problem. Bliss learns what means the most to him when Sorenson goes missing.

I enjoyed the 7.5+ hours I spent reading this 288-page young adult mystery novel. I have read a few other of Card's novels and enjoyed them as much as this one. While targeted at young adults, readers of any age will enjoy this novel. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a 4.5 (rounded up to a 5) out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

A bizarre mashup of The Secret World of Alex Mack and 8mm.

(Alex Mack is that old 90s kids' show on Nickelodeon where this young gal gets drenched in a top-secret chemical and develops strange powers which she uses to engage in fun hi-jinks and solve family-friendly mysteries. I loved that show!)

(8mm is that Nicolas Cage movie where a private investigator discovers the world of snuff films -- films that, in this instance, are pornographic in nature and end with the murder of the woman involved. Saw this movie sometime in my 20s. It was as disturbing as it sounds.)

If these two properties seem like oil and water to you, then we agree on something! But here we are. Lost and Found, written by the guy who wrote Ender's Game, is a book about a young teenager named Ezekiel Bliss who has something called a "micropower". He finds things in random places and feels compelled to return them to their owners. Scrunchies, toys, money, articles of clothing, etc. And he's really good at it! He picks up an item and instinctively knows where the owner is, so he follows his nose, so to speak, and gives it back. After some cajoling from his new friend, Beth (a primordial dwarf teenager who resembles a six-year-old), he uses his power to do something amazing: he helps a detective locate a kidnapped six-year-old girl. And that's where things get super grown up.

Based on the comparison to 8mm, you can probably guess why this little girl was kidnapped. And, I mean, don't worry, nothing bad happens to this particular little girl; she gets rescued before the pervs even show up with a camera. But that's some pretty heavy subject matter for what is apparently a YA book. The book is never gratuitous in these discussions, even in the main character's internal thoughts, but the subject alone was enough to put my teeth on edge, and this pedophile-snuff-film group remains a looming threat for the whole second half of the book.

Overall, this was a pretty good book. There are several page-turner chapters, but also a lot of banal discussions between young teenagers that was drive-this-car-off-a-bridge boring. Not sure if I'd recommend it, but you could do worse. The best parts were when Ezekiel met others with their own micropowers. The power to control spiders, the power to determine whether someone has an innie or an outie belly button, the power to make people yawn, etc. Set against a backdrop of child pornography and murder, though... well, it's a mixed bag?

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My curiosity brought me back to this read, months after its original publication. 
I have previously been a big fan of Orson Scott Card's book Enders Game. Much controversy steered me away from reading Lost and Found, but I have decided to separate the story from the author and here are my thoughts. 

The premise of the book is what brought me back to it. I have always enjoyed books containing magic, but there was something so light and almost impermanent about a story concerning a micro power. The author captures the mixed feelings of the main character by portraying how this magic is both a gift but also a kind of let down, finding things does not seem to be much of a magic power at first, until a cascade of events leads to a climatic ending. 

Without giving away the fun twists and turns, I believe this book was a positive advancement from the author's previous work and I look forward to seeing what else this world may have in store for us.

DNF'd this book. I will not be writing a full review on Goodreads because I did not complete the novel.

I completely adored Orson Scott Card's Ender Quartet, but can't believe that this is from the same author.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

This book follows two characters who meet mysteriously. Our main character has a special ability not everyone knows about that can track down people in need. I felt like this book was very well written and it was enjoyable all the way around. The characters were written to where you could see they weren’t perfect and had a soft side and a strong side to them. The atmosphere of the book and the plot were very easy to follow. I’ve never read a book by this author before but, I feel like I picked the perfect book to start their writing with.

Lost and Found is really weird, but in a good way. Fourteen-year-old Ezekiel has a micropower- he can find lost things. Unfortunately, all this is really good for is getting him in trouble, as people accuse him of stealing everything he finds. But when the police enlist his help in finding a missing girl, Ezekiel decides to learn how to better use his power and stop tragedy from happening again. 
	
The characters were very interesting- Ezekiel, his friend, Beth, and Ezekiel’s dad- though they could be unlikeable at times. There were some funny lines and interesting things to think about. Overall, a compelling and thought-provoking science fiction.

I enjoyed this one, but I found that I couldn't really connect to any of the characters but it was a fun read

This one struck me as rather odd, though I think it was intentionally so. The characters are certainly isolated from their peers. This means that we don't really connect with them. They're too different, too outside. And because they don't really make connections with their world neither do we. It was inconsistent as well, sometimes trying for humor and others entirely serious and looking for meaning. There are random diversions that go nowhere. And characters are not consistent in their presentation.The base concept is interesting but it doesn't live up to it's promise.

First, a disclaimer: I know Card is an epic a-hole. He is the only author whose work I read despite knowing his narrow- minded, bigoted rhetoric (read here). His are the only books that I struggle to give up, since Ender's Game was such a vital part of my adolescence. I wish that I could say that I have turned my back on everything he does, because I hate supporting anyone who spews hate. I just want to acknowledge the weakness on my part. This article best captures my conflicted feelings.
All of this said, I'm not going to rate this book. I'm not going to recommend this book. It's simply not worth it. There are better books out there, and there are far more deserving authors. Give them your reading time; support their careers. This is the last of his books I plan to read - I just can't take the guilt that comes with reading his work.

This book is light fare for non-discriminating YA fans.  It is a fast read with snark, murder, kidnapping, adulting issues, and a few church-like "lessons."  It was not the quality of storytelling that we've come to expect from Card, and it is sad to see him writing for a throwaway market.

The book Lost and Found tells the story of a boy named Ezekiel who has the "micropower" of being able to find lost items, determine who they belong to, and attempt to return them. Ezekiel becomes friends with a girl named Beth, who both cares about him as a person and helps him develop his micropower. Ezekiel also learns to use his powers to help a detective find missing persons. Overall, this book was fine. My favorite part about the book was Ezekiel's relationship with his father. However, in general I thought the book was largely quick to read but forgettable.

‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite books. Being offered the opportunity to read his latest, Lost and Found, is an honor and privilege. I know I am supposed to be unbiased when doing reviews but it was difficult in this case. 

Lost and Found is not long, less than 300 pages, and flows wells so it is a quick read. In it, we are introduced to Ezekiel Blast who has a gift for finding lost items. He feels compelled to return his finds. Instead of being thanked, people accuse him of taking the items in the first place. He is friendless and an outcast until a girl walks up to him and asks "Are you really a thief? 

This story is charming and engaging. The well-developed characters are endearing. It is being marketed as SciFi and Fantasy as well as Teen and Young Adult. I agree it is a Teen/YA book but, if anything, it is light SciFi and Fantasy. People who do not usually read SciFi and Fantasy will enjoy this story. 

I believe I gave an unbiased opinion on this story especially since it is not a typical SciFi and Fantasy book.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 1/27/20.

As much as I loved the concept of this, I had a hard time getting through it. Around 10% of the way through I went to look through some spoiler-free reviews to hopefully spark some more excitement to continue with it, but along with reviews I found out that the author is deeply homophobic. After doing further research about the author's homophobic comments, I absolutely do not want to continue reading his book.