Review
Hyde's tale offers a unique experience, and deals intelligently with a subject that could so easily be saccharine, and yet is treated with sympathy and insight. Twelve years old Trevor has a vision: he will do a good deed for three people, and in lieu of being paid back, he will request that they perform the same service for three more people. This altruistic version of the chain letter has surprising consequences: after initially encountering adult cynicism, it begins to have a life-changing impact on many lives. Clearly, this concept could quickly topple Hyde's novel into feel-good soft-centredness, but she is too intelligent a writer for that, and keeps sentimentality largely at bay. Trevor is a fully-rounded, sharply characterized creation, as are the adults he encounters. There will be those for whom the plot of this beguiling novel (and even the Americanism of the title) will be quite simply off-putting. Those readers will be doing themselves a disservice, as this is a truly unique tale. Whether or not this is a 'story to change your life' is beside the point: it is a truly seductive three hundred pages. (Kirkus UK)
Denver Post
'The philosophy behind the book is so intriguing, and the optimism
so contagious . . . a book that lingers long after the last page is
turned.'
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.