Lost and Found
By Orson Scott Card

I give this book 4 out of 5 birds. There were so many times I thought I LOVE THIS BOOK and then a few where it felt like it dragged or felt resolved too fast. The characters were mostly likable. I did like Ezekiel and especially his dad. I found Beth slightly annoying. I don’t want to give anything away but from the middle to the end I was like WAIT WHAT? WHY IS NO ONE ADDRESSING HOW ABSURED BETH IS. I mean Orson tried, but her life that she portrayed was so out there.

This story focused on micro-powers. Ezekiels was returning things. I loved this concept. I have a micro power- I can remember where the most random item is when you lose it. When my husband is looking for his chapstick, instantly I’m like duh it’s on the sock on the floor on the left side under the bed…..

The micro powers were fun and I liked reading about them. The plot was pretty good but also predictable. I”d say read it. It was worth it and entertaining, but maybe just check it out from the library. I also don’t know exactly what I would classify this book as… Definitely YA but it blurred the lines of contemporary, mystery, sci-fi????

Lost and Found drops on September 10, 2019. I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Lost and Found. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

14 year old Ezekiel Bliss (Blast) has a talent for finding lost things, but his honesty in wanting to return them to their owners has inadvertently labeled him a thief. Ezekiel has the love of his father, but he is a pariah with regards to his classmates and teachers. When a girl from his neighborhood breaks down his barriers and they start a real friendship, will Ezekiel's solitary life gain more meaning? After a policeman asks him for help with a missing child, will Ezekiel discover that his gift has limitless potential?

Lost and Found is a 3 star story, but the characters and the writing elevate it to a 4. Ezekiel is like any teenager looking to find their place in the world. The constant bullying and endless scrutiny has not broken Ezekiel; instead, his snarky comments and well practiced spiel give the young man an armor against the world. As Ezekiel finds more people who believe in him, the teenager gains a confidence and spark that is not seen earlier in the novel. This coming of age story has the science fiction aspects that I expected with this author, although it is definitely lighter than his usual fare. There were some parts of the plot that seemed to exist only to push the story along, but I really liked Lost and Found overall. Readers who like a little YA science fiction twisted with mystery may enjoy the novel for its great characterization and interesting voice.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange of my review. Thank you NetGalley!!

unfortunately, this book just fell really short for me. it was hard to get into, and i couldn't bring myself to finish the book. sorry!

This book was very average. It wasn't anything new or unique, we've seen it all before. The characters weren't especially likeable, The dialogue was occasionally ok but seemed a little childish at times.

The book was entertaining but I wouldn't drop everything to read it and I probably wouldn't recommend it in lists/posts over other similar books. It was very forgettable.

It is good but quite rough all throughout the story. The main characters were hard to get through because of this teenage angst and overly written millenial attitude towards the story. The story was good but it lacks connection for me, as a reader.

There are parts that the author should omit because I don't get the point of citing things just to emphasize some current and real situations that our society ceases to exist with. I am annoyed for some reason that the word "bra" was repeatedly used and cite when the protagonist is with a girl or describing "panties" or the female undies which is quite over for this storyline.

Orson Scott Card has a fantastic writing style that provides such a compelling and put-together story. Lost and Found had me hooked - I didn’t want to put it down and I just had to know what would happen next, all while loving every moment of this fun and unique story.

Ezekiel can find lost things. He’s not sure why he has this usual talent and it has certainly made his life hard, especially when everyone - from his classmates to the police- think he is a thief when he returns the lost items to their owners. His new friend Beth, a girl with her own reasons for staying away from other people, tries to convince him that his talent has the power to help people and encourages him to experiment with it. Then Ezekiel is approached by a police detective who thinks Ezekiel may be the key to solving a little girl’s kidnapping.

I love YA mystery novels, yet sometimes the reason for the teen to be involved in the detective work is a stretch at best or seems a little unlikely. Not so in Lost and Found. Yes, perhaps Ezekiel’s micropower stretches the boundaries of reality but the world that is built around the story makes complete sense. Ezekiel is not the only one with a micropower and the sections of the book devoted to him meeting others with similar but unique seemingly useless powers are fantastic additions to the story. As Ezekiel discovers more about the possibility of the existence of mircopowers, comes to accept that his ability to locate and rehome lost items is a micropower and starts to experiment with this ability, he earns his place as a junior detective. And it turns out he is pretty good at it.

I loved Ezekiel’s voice. Loved his sense of humour and self-depreciation. Having been labeled by the police, by teachers and peers, he expects little from those around him. Ezekiel has a colourful and unique way of viewing his world, or labelling and spinning the details he sees, and he tells the hell out of his story, with his own unique twist. It also makes him an unreliable narrator - there were a few times I had to do a double take at some of the names of streets, for example, only to realise later that Ezekiel has a thing about renaming things and people.

I loved, loved, loved Ezekiel’s relationship with his dad. I loved the relationship his dad had with Ezekiel. It is a solid relationship, only made more so by the events of the book. It is a pleasure to read such a positive father-son relationship in YA fiction.

While Lost and Found has a young tone to its storytelling, I would recommend this book to mature YA readers due to the reasons given behind the kidnapping, and while most details are spared, there is enough detail given and very serious themes raised that make this book more appropriate for older teen readers.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

Another wonderful book from the mind that gave the world Ender’s Game and so many others. An absolute must for Sci-fi fans

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of LOST AND FOUND by Orson Scott Card in exchange for my honest review.***

Lost and Found focuses on Ezekiel Blast, a high school student who has a talent for finding things. He has a knack of returning all these lost items to their owners, but it has also made for a bad reputation for him. Follow along as Blast attempts to turn his life around in a way that only Orson Scott Card can write.

I absolutely loved these characters and their backstories. This book is one that every one needs to consider reading. It really speaks loudly to the issues that are becoming much more prevalent in today's society and to our 'future generations.' What if having mental health issues actually highlights certain aspects of our brains and gives us these unusual talents? Looking at these issues that a majority of us have to deal with, whether we require treatment for them or not, helps to bring a real light to them instead of this faked acceptance. Add in the continued bullying that faces a majority of high school students, and it is a premise that I feel most people can relate to.

As with all of Orson Scott Card's books, he kept me guessing where the book was going to head. What I thought the book was going to be about, abruptly changed and kept me intrigued in what would happen next. Let's just say that Card continues to have a few aces up his sleeve. Card wrote a book that relates to now and I imagine that it will become another classic for our future generations to learn from. Originally I thought, that this book didn't deserve a full set of stars in the rating because I wondered when I would ever re-read it. Once you read it once, would I need to pick it up again? But when I thought about it some more, I realized that I would. There are small clues and hints to pick up with each reading and the moral of the story doesn't change: maybe we are all just lost...

Thank you Blackstone Publishing and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book.

Orson Scott Card has a lovely way with words and a lovely way with a story, and this is no exception. I was captivated by these sweet young people and their journey of self-discovery and adventure.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. It's heartwarming and sweet, and I liked the weird micropowers. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

Lost and Found

This was my first OSCard book, and I was captured from the very start! The tag line got me, even though it was listed as YA, and as I’m very OA, I don’t usually dip my toes in this pond much. I am so very glad I did.

Main protagonist Ezekiel isn’t comfortable in his own skin, world, and life. He’s got many good reasons, all of which give him plenty of justification for his crankiness. The short girl who steps up on the walk from and to school invading his bubble doesn’t help. . . .until she does. This book is about the growth of that relationship, and the irony of where the people who bug you most turn up in your priority list if they last. But like Ginsu knives, Wait! There’s More! Introduced for the first time to this reader are Micropowers and how they fit in a person’s life, and if they make any difference at all. Clearly, they do. There’s a book about it! And a non-therapy group of micropotents with a leader, and an FBI agent, and kidnappers, and threats of death are involved. There are responsible parents, irresponsible parents, dead parents, bullies, reformed bullies, discussions of belly-buttons, spiders and the power of the yawn. Randomness you’d never believe could work so well together. I enjoyed the character development, and the depths to which the author explored “head talk,” those voices in our heads that never stop contradicting themselves until you get down to the nugget of what’s being discussed. For some that might be tedious, but since that happens in my head, it felt very familiar.

So many tidbits got me - but the wordplay and fun with words written and verbalised, their origins and uses - that had to be very close to the top. The banter between Ekeziel and his dad as they discussed language and its power was sporty and nimble; it made me smile.

The engaged reader of Lost and Found finds, at its heart, how families succeed, how they fail; and of what fabric of friendship is made. Just so you know, I’ve begun working on identifying my micropowers (I can recognize a “face” in just about any textured surface! HA!) I highly recommend this book, and will be looking for my own copy to keep on hand for the grandkids. And in case anyone is taking a vote, I’d love to read more of these characters, along the line of a series.

My sincere thanks to Orson Scott Card, Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an ARC copy of this book.

Okay so...
I overall liked this book. It definitely did read as very middle grade, but that's not a huge issue for me. However, my issue lies within the voices of Beth and Ezekiel. At times I felt like their characters were too similar, and made it hard to connect to them. The plot however, kept me guessing, and kept the story moving. Though this book wasn't necessarily for me, I believe readers will love it.

The only thought that was going through my brain when I was reading this book was "so good, it's just so good." I really enjoyed reading this book. Ezekiel Blast has this small but powerful ability to just know about lost items and needs to return them to their owners.( including disgusting hair ties on the side of the road). Unfortunately this precious ability isn't all what it cracks up to be when he is labeled a thief when he is young and he can never shake it. At age 14 he doesn't have any friends, until Beth comes into his world. Then things start changing. He has a friend, he's going to a group that studies their small and sometimes annoying powers, like the girl who has the power to make people yawn. Like big time. But when a Detective asks Ezekiel for help finding a lost girl, at first he says no, but after returning some lost items with Beth, he helps with the investigation. Then Beth goes missing....

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

Ezekiel and Beth are 14 yr old geniuses in 10th grade and total awkward outcast weirdoes. They have micro powers, which is not the same as super powers.

This is my first book by this author and I truly enjoyed it. Great read.

4☆

Card is a very diverse writer and this book is no exception. I love the fun language with sarcasm that seems to follow the main character, but he is so funny and sincere. I like the relationship between father and son and how he interacts with Beth. I would defiantly recommend this book, unlike any other Card book I have read, but still fun and insightful and contains a range of emotions that you will experience while reading.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Ezekiel Blast. Quattordici anni, lingua affilata, un padre che lo ama. Una madre morta in un incidente. Il potere di ritrovare ciò che è stato perduto, e riportarlo al proprietario.

Cammina solo fino a scuola, evitato e disprezzato: perché come non credere che quello che riporta con tanta certezza non sia stato rubato da lui stesso?

Ezekiel si crogiola nella sua sprezzante solitudine, finché la bolla viene invasa da Beth: ancora più brillante e sarcastica di lui, lo sceglie come accompagnatore per evitare i bulli - e lo sceglie come amico, che Ezekiel lo voglia o meno.

Un'amicizia preziosa e improbabile, che fiorisce nel momento in cui Beth, scoperto il micropotere di Ezekiel - e con la spinta di un gruppo di ricerca proprio sui micropoteri e di un agente di polizia che vuole disperatamente ritrovare una bambina scomparsa prima che sia troppo tardi - lo spinge a testarne i limiti.

I limiti del potere, certo, ma anche, e soprattutto, i limiti umani di Ezekiel: quelli che li stesso si è imposto.

Una storia di scoperta e amicizia, lontanissima dall'Orson Scott Card dei tempi di Alvin Maker, ma gradevole da leggere.

Anche se, onestamente, vanno più che bene i dialoghi brillanti e taglienti, ma due quattordicenni che parlano come parlano Beth ed Ezekiel e non riescono a stare muti nemmeno in una situazione di estremo pericolo diventano non solo poco credibili, ma anche (neanche tanto) vagamente irritanti.

Piacevole, ma temo che fra due mesi mi ricorderò giusto il titolo e poco altro, nonostante o sforzo dell'autore per costruire una storia di accettazione, amicizia ed elaborazione del lutto.

Some good bits, some just average.

* the characters were not especially likeable except for Ezekiel's dad, who was great!
* the dialogue was occasionally funny, sometimes snappy and smart, sometimes verging on infantile and not funny at all.
* the story was good and went in some interesting directions.
* there was too much internal monologue on various social issues.

Overall it was a readable book, somewhat entertaining, but I guess I expected more from this author.

Here's an unusual and compelling new YA mystery from famed author Orson Scott Card. His premise in Lost and Found is that not all psychic talents are superpowers, but even micropowers can make a very big difference.

Fourteen-year-old Ezekiel Blast has a micropower, a talent for finding things. It has made him an outsider, till he's befriended by the very determined Beth, a 'proportionate dwarf and a genius. Together, they are embroiled in a mystery and in danger.

As always, this is another superlative read from Orson Scott Card, who excels at banter between his characters, as well as engrossing plots.

Lost and Found is Orson Scott Cards new YA fantasy with science fiction elements and I was pleasantly surprised by it but also wanted more. We're following a young boy who has the power to return lost items to their owners hence the title. This power hasn't brought him the best joy in life. It's actually brought him to dark places mentally until he meets a pretty girl named Beth who helps to change his perspective.

The beginning I found to be a bit slow going. I couldn't connect with the main character as much as I wanted to but the story really picked up for me in the final 150 pages, and while I can't say much without spoiling things, it definitely had much more action and plot progression than the rest combined.

There is a good discussion in this book (or possibly something I only found present because I can delve to deep into things.... heh) about feeling responsible for things that you have no control over. Whether that be mistakes that your loved ones are making, deteriorating health of loved ones, or even just people doing bad things to you and the people you care about. Some things are really out of our control, and I liked the dissection of this in this book, because I think it is easy to feel responsible for things that sometimes really aren’t our faults.

All in all, a book I definitly recommend to others and one I'm glad to have spent my time on.

I tried VERY HARD to like this book, mostly because 1) it was by Orson Scott Card and 2) I loved Ender's Game and had some pretty [unacceptable] high expectations before diving in. I knew, from reading the blurb, that it will be NOTHING like Ender's Game, but I still had high hopes. My bad.

I just really couldn't get into it. The first thing I noticed and was mainly the reason why I'm dropping this, was how the characters all sound alike and are all snarky, snotty, and, a lot of times, come off as rude? So it was hard for me to connect the characters because I can't differentiate their personalities.

I was actually planning to give this 1 star, but gave it 2 since I found the concept of ~micropowers~ interesting. Made me think about MY micropower or if I even have one. The main character's micropower is finding lost things. Again, it was interesting, but the author spent so much time forming debates around the concept of "finding lost things" and other micropowers that instead of making me go "OH. YEAH. RIGHT.", it just made me... lost. One laughable micropower mentioned in the book is how a Doctor can accurately pinpoint and describe/picture where a person's belly button is and whether it's an innie or an outie.

Still, thank you Netgalley for giving me a chance to read the DRC.