By: Lisa Scottoline

Rosato & DiNunzio #4

ISBN: 9781250099624

Publisher: St Martin's Press 

Publication Date: 8/16/2016 

Format: Hardcover

My Rating: 4 Stars 

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lisa Scottoline returns following Most Wanted (2016) withDAMAGED (Rosato & DiNunzio, #4) featuring attorney, Mary DiNuzio—(law partner) about to be married to Anthony, and becomes involved in a complex legal, and highly charged emotional case which threatens her personal and business life.

Mary DiNunzio, a partner in the Philadelphia law firm Rosato & DiNunzio, takes on a heartbreaking case involving a dyslexic fifth grader, Patrick O’Brien, who’s bullied at school and is getting no support for his language disability.

Patrick, is being raised by his paternal grandfather, and allegedly attacked a school aid with scissors, and the aid is suing both Patrick and the school board for damages.

Edward O’Brien, grandfather--in his seventies and comes the law firm for help. His grandson is special needs (dyslexic) and needs representation. On top of his learning disabilities, he is being bullied at school, plus turns out suffering from much more.

Robertson is represented by Nick Machiavelli, known for his dirty practices. Mary is caught in the middle and falls in love with Patrick and quickly comes to his defense. She even wants to adopt him, after winning her heart. Her parent’s also rally around her as well as the other gals at the law firm.

However, things get complicated when she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, after Edward’s death. Mary has many difficult choices to make involving her own relationship with college professor Anthony-, torn between her love and dedication to Patrick, when scrutinized by everyone, including Machiavelli.

I enjoyed learning the author’s inspiration behind the novel –a best friend, a fellow lawyer, who works on special-education cases. What is the best thing to do for a special needs child, when lines are blurred between ethical, moral, professional and personal lives.

Gripping! An intense fight for justice, a mixture of legal suspense thriller and riveting domestic suspense. From education, sexual abuse, learning disabilities, bullying, and parenting. A nice balance with loads of Scottoline’s signature winning style. An avid legal and Scottoline fan, as always love catching up with Judy, Bennie, and family.

On a personal note: Having raised three stepsons with dyslexia, am very familiar with the learning disability and the many ongoing challenges, when compared to my own two sons. Their educational needs, from tutoring, untimed SATs, to daily social interactions required special monitoring and attention.

From behavior, health, development, personality, writing, reading, motor skills, and even time management inconsistencies, are some of the many traits and behaviors. The characteristics can vary from day to minute, and each child is different in many ways. Many times they are highly creative with high IQs; however, their learning disabilities may become quite challenging for children, teens, college students and even into adulthood--without the proper guidance, research, compassion, education and support.

JDCMustReadBooks

Disclosure: I received a DRC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read a couple of books by Vanita Oelschlager before. At first, I was a little reluctant because she publishes under a kind of vanity press. That is, she runs her own indie publishing company whose books are mainly written by her. However, a closer look shows that she collaborates with several talented illustrators an graphic designers to come up with beautiful, well-packaged books. Also, the proceeds go to a clinic for Multiple Sclerosis. What I’ve learned in my quick research or the author and reading her books is that she knows what she’s doing, she puts out good material, and she’s doing it all with a very good cause in mind. Plus, the cover of Knees just looks so cute. I had to read it.

A young boy struggles with his dyslexia. He has a hard time in class and makes him feel different. His parents tell him about other people with dyslexia who did all kinds of things. He’s uplifted and seeks a hobby he might be good at. When he finds that he’s good at basketball, he earns the respect of other kids. His boosted self-esteem helps him improve in other areas too.

This book made me so happy. It’s so uplifting. I immediately felt for the boy in the story. I wanted to give him a hug. When he finds out he’s good at basketball, his self-esteem goes through the roof. I think that’s the wonderful thing about extracurricular activities and hobbies. Sometimes, all we need is a little confirmation that we’re good at something, even if it’s not math or science. I know band helped me a lot throughout high school. I also really loved that his mother told him he may find other things he’s good at too. It sends a really good message that his parents still push him to succeed. So many times, parents tend to hold their children back because of their learning disabilities (or other disabilities). I think this is an important book, and I’m really glad it’s out there. The art is great. The illustrators at VanitaBooks always put out good stuff, but this has been my favorite. I hope there are more good things to come from this group.

I recommend this book to readers ages 6+.