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Lost and Found    by Orson Scott Card Amazon.com order for
Lost and Found
by Orson Scott Card
Order:  USA  Can
Blackstone, 2019 (2019)
Hardcover, CD, e-Book
* * *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

Here's an unusual and compelling new YA mystery from famed author Orson Scott Card (think Ender's Game among a long list of superb stories for teens and adult readers). 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 talent for finding things. In fact, he's always been impelled to return lost items (e.g. bicycles and hair scrunchies) to their owners ... which has led to accusations of theft from an early age. As a result, Zeke has been, and remains, a total outsider at school.

One day, a small girl starts following Ezekiel to school, and then insists on talking to him, persisting despite his pushing her away. Beth (the story's female lead) reminded me of Bean in the Ender series. Beth, a 'proportionate dwarf', is determined and a genius. She's dealing with serious problems that she keep to herself, and is not nearly as young as she looks.

When a cop approaches Zeke to help find a missing girl, he's reluctant at first and sure that his talent won't work that way, but eventually finds a way to apply it, helped by Beth and other teens with micropowers. Then Beth goes missing and Zeke is pulled into a race against time to find the only friend he's ever had.

As always, this is another superlative read from Orson Scott Card, who excels at banter between his characters, as well as engrossing plots. I hope he will continue to write about teens with micropowers.

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