"Eleven-year-old Isidore has never skipped a grade or written a dissertation [as his five accomplished siblings have]. But he notices things the others don't, and asks questions they fear to ask. So when tragedy strikes the Mazal family, Isidore is the only one to recognize how everyone is struggling with their grief, and perhaps the only one who can help them--if he doesn't run away from home first"--Amazon.com.