Brendan Buckley is a ten year old boy interested in rocks and Tae Kwon Do.  He keeps a journal called  Brendan Buckley’s Book of Big Questions About Life, the Universe and Everthing In It.  Lately he’s had plenty of questions for that journal.  While at the mall looking at a rock collection, his grandmother vigorously drags him away from an old man.  Brendan realizes that the man is his estranged granfather of whom no one in his family speaks well.  Using his curious and scientific mind, Brendan questions his mother and other family members in an attempt to figure out what happened between his grandfather and the rest of the family.  He soon discovers that it might have something to do with his racially mixed family.

I found this book pretty slow going.  I just didn’t feel any real energy to the book, any real crisis that moved the plot along.  I would, however, recomend it to readers who are looking for a book involving rock collecting or Tae Kwon Do.  Ages 9-11  Corretta Scott King New Talent Author Award Winner 2007