Lost and Found

The Grayson brothers have a hard time proving they're two separate people. Their parents named one Ray Jay and the other Jay Ray. And to complicate matters, they're identical twins! It's not that Ray and Jay (who only go by their first names to avoid confusion) mind it, exactly. They get along just fine. But they have always secretly wondered what it would be like to be a single person rather than always "one of the Grayson twins." When they move to a new town just in time to start sixth grade, they get that chance. Ray stays at home sick on the first day of school, so Jay gets to go alone. Jay adjusts well and makes some new friends right away. But there's something weird going on. No one wonders where his brother is, and Ray isn't on any attendance lists. It's as if he doesn't exist. Before Jay tells his teachers, he comes up with a plan. Now he and his brother can both see what it's like not to be known as a twin. They'll take turns going to school, each pretending to be Jay. They look exactly alike, so no one will know the difference. That is, until they start making friends and finding girls they like, and each has to memorize everything that the other did that day at school. They also need to figure out who's responsible for all the homework! What follows is a sometimes funny, sometimes heartfelt story about mistaken identities, making friends and understanding family ties. As it becomes tougher and tougher to keep their stories straight, Jay and Ray begin to get more annoyed with each other. As if that's not enough, their parents don't understand why the boys refuse to go out at the same time (obviously, they don't want to run into anyone from their school), and one of them keeps getting into trouble for not doing his homework. It's clear that Andrew Clements hasn't lost his touch. LOST AND FOUND is every bit as good a book as his first novel, FRINDLE. This is an excellent kid-centered adventure that follows a fantasy I'm sure many kids, twins or not, have had. The ending remains true to the plot, and Jay and Ray have just as much say over their destinies as the adults do when all is said and done. LOST AND FOUND would be the perfect book for a family to read together or for a child to read on his or her own. Every aspect of the story, from the dialogue to the funny characters, is spot on.

Just maybe, being a twin is not what the rep says it is. No privacy. No chance to experiment a little. Always that other voice yammering in the background. Always the necessity to seek agreement from the other. Until Jay Grayson goes alone on their first day to sixth grade at the new school in their new town. His identical twin Ray stays home sick. Since Jay has never done anything alone, he enjoys the solitude, the separateness. Ahhhh. The strange thing is that all day not one teacher calls his brother's name. In the afternoon he has a chance to take a quick peek at the student folders. There's not one for his brother! Then he discovers the mistake. The two folders are stuck one inside the other. No one knows there's a twin. There's only Jay Grayson. Therein is hatched the plot to pass the twins as one. They take turns going to school. After all, their own mother has to look for the one identifying birthmark to know absolutely which twin is which. No one ever chooses to be friends with just one twin. How does a kid decide, when they look alike? It has always been a threesome. Then there's the name thing. Their parents named them Jay Ray and Ray Jay. Yes, they did. That really enhances their identical identities. Yet, they are very different. Where one excels, the other declines. Even their tastes in girls differ as they find out during their week as one boy. Andrew Clements has written another winner to join Frindle, The School Story, and A Week in the Woods. His inimitable laid-back style of writing draws in the reluctant reader and just sucks in the one who loves reading. See, the boys know early on that they will get caught eventually and decide to pass as one for just a week then accept their punishment. They want to do this to savor the freedom of just being one person, and not part of a pair. They know they are different, but they know they are treated like, well, twins. What they discover, maybe not right away, but later when they think about it, after the story is over, is that people DO KNOW the difference between them, or at least people who matter to them. Therein lies half the story--to make this discovery. Clement treats the issues of rebellion, individuality, and initiative provocatively yet responsibly. Oh yes, where did Clement get his source material on twins? His own twin sons, now grown. And that title--Lost and Found--very thematic!

I've got twin boys and this story was so cute for them to read. They could identify with the story and it has quickly become a favorite bedtime read for the whole family. Illustrations was pleasing to the eyes and the font is a great size for beginning readers.

My 8 yr old son said -- Mom, I couldn't put this book down. It was really fun and exciting. He refused to come to dinner until he had finished the book cover to cover. He is an only child, but he could really identify with the 12 yr old twin boys featured here, and with the scrapes they got into in their quest for their own identity and place in this world as individuals rather than just twins who come as a package. I like to read the books my son does, so that I know what he is exposed to, and while it didn't have the punch of Frindle by the same author, it was an extremely engaging and well characterized book, with no plot holes.

Andrew Clements has added another great middle grade novel to his list of successful titles. LOST AND FOUND is a sure winner. Identical twins fascinate us. It seems amazing to look so much like someone else that people can't tell the difference. There are fantastic tales of switching places, having their own special form of communication, feeling one another's pain, and reading each other's mind. All that is intriguing to those who are not twins, but when you are an identical twin, there are many times when you wish you were one of a kind. Jay and Ray are entering the sixth grade at a new school, and each is feeling the frustration that their new classmates will not be able to tell them apart. Jay will be Ray, and Ray will be Jay more than they care to think about. However, things don't go as expected when Ray comes down with a cough and a fever that keep him at home on the first day of school. In their homeroom class, Jay is surprised when only his name is called off by the teacher. Shouldn't Ray be called right after him? As the day continues, all the teachers do the same. No one mentions Ray at all. It is not until Jay accidentally notices a blue file with his name on it that looks twice as thick as everyone else's that he realizes the two files have been combined. The school seems to have no idea that his twin brother Ray even exists. As soon as Jay gets home after school, he tells Ray about his interesting discovery. By then Jay has enjoyed one entire day not being a twin. He's even worked out a plan that would allow both boys to experience that wonderful feeling of being one of a kind. They can take turns attending school. One can go and one can stay at home. What can go wrong? Knowing that they can't keep up the ruse forever, they agree to try it for as long as possible. There will be consequences when they are caught, but both decide it is worth the risk. Little do they know, by pretending to be one another, they must be more alike than ever before. LOST AND FOUND is an entertaining story guaranteed to hold the interest of the 9-12 age group. Clements has a way of making the story sound like it could be happening right in the reader's own classroom. In addition to humor and suspense, there are opportunities for good classroom discussion including plot predictions, cause and effect relationships, and decision-making consequences. Whether inside or outside the classroom, LOST AND FOUND is a fun read. Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"