The Cardturner

I love The Cardturner simply because it is like no other YA book out there. It manages to tell a great story, spur thoughts about philosophy and religion, and teach me the basics of bridge. Few storytellers are capable of doing this well, but Louis Sachar certainly is one of those.

Alton is a wonderful character. He is easy-going, self-deprecating, and sarcastic, but his most outstanding characteristic is kindness. He goes along with his money-grubbing mother's demands to spend time with his uncle, because he feels an obligation to her and doesn't want to deal with defying her. He stays loyal to his girlfriend-stealing best friend, because Cliff is a nice guy and Alton can't bring himself to admit how upset he is. He is patient, open-minded, and willing to learn from his uncle, who is, on the surface, a crusty, cranky old man.

The Cardturner manages to educate the reader about bridge while still keeping a funny, entertaining voice. Sachar made a genius decision to identify the detailed instructions with a whale sign (I love the Moby Dick reference since I can't stand Melville), giving the reader the option to skip through the teaching material. But education is spread throughout the book, not just about bridge. I loved Trapp's thoughts about ideas: "'Our bodies are not alive,' said Trapp. 'The only living entities are ideas.'" His comments and Alton's opinions about them really made me think - something that not many YA books do.

The story is told in one of the "talk to the reader" voices. (e.g. "Not that I'm complaining. It was just a thought that crossed my mind, so I reported it to you.") I generally hate these type of books. I'd rather hear the story than chat with the main character, but Alton's little quips are so funny that I generally didn't mind his voice.

I was madly in love with The Cardturner for the first half of the book. It was one of the best books I'd read in a long time. As the book continued, though, I thought the bridge details bogged the story down a little, and I wasn't as thrilled with some of the plot arcs. I still think it was a fabulous book throughout, but it fell from a 5 to a 4.5.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Gold Star Award Winner!

"Talk About Wow" is the title of one of the chapters in THE CARDTURNER by Louis Sachar. It is also the perfect way to describe this book. I was hooked on the very first page and read the thing in a single day. My recommendation is - Don't Miss It!

With that said, many readers could be scared away by THE CARDTURNER. The story revolves around the card game of bridge. The book is filled with in-depth information and detailed descriptions of the game. But don't let that frighten you off. There is soooo much more to enjoy.

Alton Richards isn't really looking forward to the summer between his junior and senior year. He knows he should look for a job but can't seem to get motivated. There won't be any swimming in the backyard pool because it's still just a hole in the ground awaiting the final outcome of some lawsuit between his parents and the pool company. Alton's dad has also just broken the news that the insulation company he works for is downsizing, which means he's out of a job. And don't forget, Alton's girlfriend just dumped him. Great way to kick off summer vacation.

Just when Alton thinks things can't get anymore dismal, he learns that his "favorite" uncle, Lester Trapp, has requested his presence. Alton has been to his uncle's hilltop home only once before. It was the elderly Trapp's birthday, and Alton was just five years old at the time. Since Alton knows his parents are hoping for a huge inheritance when the old guy's time comes, he knows he must answer the call and find out what the old man wants.

A cardturner? What is that? Lester Trapp, who is now blind due to complications from diabetes, wants Alton to help him play bridge. Trapp wants his young nephew to accompany him to his bridge club to read off the cards in his hand and play for him during the games. Alton knows nothing about bridge, but he is about to learn. He is also about to learn some of his family's darkest secrets.

Using first-person narrative, author Louis Sachar takes readers into the world of bridge. Alton is an incredibly likeable main character with a wonderful sense of humor even when thrown into the most challenging circumstances. As he explains his eccentric uncle and other crazy members of the cast, he also teaches the basics of bridge. Scattered throughout the story are informational sections about the game. I agree with a previous review of THE CARDTURNER, posted at Guys Lit Wire, that these sections can be skipped if readers desire, but I found that even though I was confused, I wanted to read them to gain knowledge of this mysterious game.

I'm not going to run out and start playing bridge, but thanks to Sachar, I can now appreciate the dedication and seriousness true players have for the game. Whatever you might feel about the game of bridge, THE CARDTURNER is a heartwarming and attention-grabbing novel. Even though this is billed as YA fiction, I'm passing it on to a bridge-playing friend of my mother's, and I know she's going to love it.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

Alton Richards is not exactly a take-charge kind of guy. Exhibit A: Ever since he was a little kid, Alton was told that his uncle, Lester Trapp, was his "favorite uncle," despite the fact that Alton didn't really know Lester at all, and what he did know, he didn't like very much. But Alton's parents know that Lester is rich, and so, if he wants his family to be remembered in Uncle Lester's will, he'll play favorites. Or so his parents say.

When an ailing Lester loses his eyesight, Alton, aimlessly thinking about getting a summer job after wrapping up his junior year of high school, is tapped to take him to his daily bridge game at his club. At first, Alton is petrified. Is he going to need to be Lester's partner at a boring, complicated card game that no one under the age of 60 understands?

Hardly. Lester would never trust such a novice to be his partner; instead, Alton will be his cardturner, privately telling Uncle Lester the 13 cards he holds at the beginning of the game and then playing the cards Lester directs him to play during each of the subsequent turns. He's not to ask questions or second-guess or take charge. Just play the cards. That's all.

At first, Alton is flummoxed by bridge, a fiendishly complicated game of bidding and passing, trumps and tricks. But as he follows his uncle's competent directions, he becomes more and more fascinated by the game's strategy, its emphasis on skill over luck, teamwork and intuition. He's also growing increasingly fascinated with Toni, his uncle's former cardturner, a girl who already has had years of experience at bridge, a girl who is quirky and a little bit odd --- and the object of Alton's best friend's affection. Toni's late grandmother was Lester's former partner when they were young, before tragedy or madness (or a little bit of both) drove them apart and robbed Lester of his only shot at winning a national bridge tournament. Now, as his health rapidly diminishes, can Alton and Toni help give Alton's uncle (who is quickly becoming a genuine favorite) another shot at nationals?

In his author's introduction, Louis Sachar compares writing a book about bridge for teens to writing a book about baseball for extraterrestrials. It's a complicated game with its own vocabulary, rules, and quirks, one that few young people have even heard of, let alone understand. But, as he writes, "I really love the game," and his evident knowledge of and passion for the game shines not only through the surprisingly suspenseful descriptions of individual bridge hands and tournaments, but also even in the clearly, cleverly written discussions of the rules of the game.

As in many of his other books, Sachar's seemingly upbeat novel holds serious subject matter (in this case, domestic violence and mental illness) at its core. Alton's and Toni's stories --- or, more accurately, the stories of their game-playing predecessors --- gain significance far beyond the game that brings them together. But at the same time, learning how to play bridge, interacting with people he otherwise never would meet, and hearing stories he otherwise never would know, helps Alton stop just going through the motions and finally take charge of his own life.

Alton has always known that his parents look to his Great Uncle Lester as their salvation. Uncle Lester is very wealthy, and they hope that when he dies he will leave them lots of money. So when Alton gets a call asking him to sit with blind Uncle Lester and help him play bridge, they think this is the perfect way to get into Lester's good graces.

Alton doesn't know much about Lester, just stories he's heard through the years about how grumpy and selfish the old man is, and how he had a tragic past. But the longer he works for Lester and learns more about his dry wit, his genius ability to play bridge, and the true story about his past, the more Alton begins to figure out a path for his own life.

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar offers young adults more of what they may have loved in Holes with lessons on bridge built in. While the bridge technicalities may sound boring (and it definitely can be) Sachar offers his readers respite by indicating which passages are full of bridge jargon. Readers can skip those sections without losing any of the beauty of the story.

And this is one beautiful story. Alton is drifting aimlessly at the beginning of the book. He's lost his girlfriend to his best friend and has no idea what he wants to do with his life after high school. The lessons Alton learns from his uncle, and as he learns to play bridge himself, also make for good conversation in mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up: how do you define success in yourself and others, how can you stand up for yourself and the things you want even if means going against someone you care about, and what makes a good partner, in cards and in life.

The chapters are short, which makes it easy to keep turning pages. Both Alton and Uncle Lester have compelling voices and the ability to make simple statements that carry a lot of meaning. The bridge descriptions may get tedious, or they may inspire you to learn more about this game of strategy. Either way, there's a lot to love in this gem of a book. I highly recommend it.

I enjoyed this book by Louis Sachar even though it was mostly about Bridge, the very complicated card game of which I knew very little about until I read this. Amongst the bids and play, there is a side story about a young boy, Alton Richards, who becomes his blind Great Uncle Trapp's cardturner at Bridge tournaments. Along the way he learns not only how to play bridge, but learns the art of unspoken communication, a respect for the elderly, and how to be a real winner. There is a second side story about Trapp and Annabelle King (Trapp's old bridge partner, and love of his life) set during the Eisenhower and Nixon administrations.

Sachar is a wonderful storyteller and can take any subject and make it interesting, even Bridge. I was admittedly lost in a lot of the more complicated Bridge playing, but that didn't deter my enjoyment of the story.

I listened to this on audio and Sachar was the narrator. You would think that authors that read their own work would be the perfect narrator knowing where all the right inflections and pauses should go. I have found this generally not to be the case (Neil Gaimen is the exception to this.). Sachar is wooden in many places and almost seems to stumble in some areas of the reading. Overall it was a decent reading, but I think a professional actor would have probably done a better job.

This was an ambitious undertaking by Sachar to write a story for Young Adults mostly about Bridge, and I wonder how many YA's will actually read it. Probably not many-maybe if he had had them all be vampires playing Bridge...

When the summer started, Alton Richards knew nothing about bridge (other than it was a card game that was played mostly by old people), and he knew every little about his elderly uncle Lester Trapp (aside that he was blind and rich). One day, Alton gets dragged into being Trapp's cardturner in the game of bridge. Alton's mom believes this will be a great opportunity to be included in Trapp's will. At first, Alton isn't particularly thrilled about this arrangement, but when Alton meets Trapp and learns more about bridge, he begins to enjoy himself. Besides, there's also Toni, a somehow relative to Uncle Trapp.

Before hearing about this novel, I had never heard of a YA novel about bridge. Having enjoyed other Sachar novels, I expected this enjoy this one as well. This was a good book, although not my favorite Sachar novel. Sachar did a great job of making sure the parts with are not too overwhelming, as these could be rather boring to readers. In fact, the bridge sections are sectioned off, so readers have the option of skipping them.

Aside from bridge, this novel also had a bit of mystery, which added depth to the story. While bonding with his uncle, Alton also wants to find out more about him, specifically about Trapp's relationship with a former senator's wife.

Overall, this is a unique novel, and I recommend it if you are looking for something different.

This book starts off as contemporary realistic fiction, an amusing and heart-warming tale about Alton and his great-uncle, Trapp. The two get to know each other over a summer while Alton acts as Trapp's cardturner while playing bridge. Trapp can no longer play on his own, as his eyesight has failed. Alton has no previous knowledge of the game; the role was foisted upon him by his parents, who want to get into Trapp's good graces in order to inherit his millions. Alton is replacing Toni, the great-niece of Trapp's ex-wife and granddaughter of Trapp's beloved and long-deceased bridge partner. Alton finds Toni intriguing--he wants to hate her, but finds her strange behavior compelling. Alton needs the distraction, anyway--his best friend recently hooked up with his former girlfriend and his keeps ruminating on his misfortune.

Alton is a charming narrator, and his growing respect for Trapp and the game of bridge transforms his ho-hum summer into a magical one. Quite literally, it proves, as this novel veers from the realistic into the mystical just as it looks like the narrative is winding down. The final act, as Alton and Toni realize the dreams of their elders, is both suspenseful and touching. The bridge content in the story is well-managed. Settings and characters are well-fleshed out in flawless writing. _The Cardturner_ is a first-rate book and highly recommended for ages 15 and up.

I grabbed this book randomly from the library because I thought the snippet on the back looked interesting. I was not expecting to finish it in a day and half, but I did.

This book sparked my interest in the game of Bridge and did a rather good job of explaining it. I don't know how to play Bridge, never played Bridge, never even knew what Bridge really was - and to be honest - thought it was probably a stupid game played by people with nothing better to do. However, this book got me interested in the game, interested enough to start looking around for a group to join.

The book is a little slow at the beginning, but once it got started I really enjoyed it. (Not just because it explained Bridge.) I found the story interesting, the protagonist endearing and enjoyable. I was excited to see what was going to happen - and not just because of the game. (I should note that I'm kind of fond of puzzles and I enjoyed trying to figure out the best play whenever I was given a chance.) There were some terms I had to look up and some times I was confused, but on the whole, I felt the book did a good job of explaining Bridge clearly without forcing you to know the game to enjoy the book.

However, after a certain character was no longer part of the story, I felt that the book went downhill. In fact, the ending was difficult for me to read, it seemed that the characters I had related to earlier were gone and replaced with shadows of their former selves.

I would read this book again, but I would probably skip the end. It is an enjoyable book. The characters grab you and the story is interesting. At the very least, the book will hopefully spark your interest in a fascinating game.

He was Alton Richards's favorite uncle. At least, that's what Alton's parents always told him to say. Uncle Lester was both rich and sick, and the Richards family could really use some money. So, when Lester's nurse calls and says Lester needs Alton's help as a cardturner during Alton's summer vacation, the high school student is drafted into the job.

Lester's diabetes has left him blinded, but that doesn't keep him from his favorite game, bridge. For every hand, Alton is to take Lester aside, read him the cards, and then play the cards for him on Lester's command. One thing he is not to do...that's to question Lester's decisions. That's how Lester's former card turner got fired. It turns out, though, that the former card turner is the granddaughter of Lester's one-time partner and great love. Although she's initially annoying, it doesn't take long before Alton is more than intrigued. Just long enough for his best friend to have already asked her out on a date.

Lester's dream is to compete in a National Tournament and to win a nationally rated event. With Alton turning the cards, he thinks he has a chance and Alton accompanies him to Sectional and Regional tournaments. Achieving Lester's dream becomes important to Alton as well, and ultimately becomes a life-changing event for all of them.

Author Louis Sachar writes a charming story that includes teen angst, Alton's growing understanding of the world, a hint of the paranormal, with bridge players talking from beyond the grave, and a fascinating look at the mysterious world of bridge. I confess that I wondered how Sachar would manage to make bridge interesting to non-bridge players. It isn't the most active of games and it's hard to describe the subtleties that make it so fascinating to those of us who are hooked on it. So I was pleased to see that he managed. Bridge serves as part of the setting, but it's the people, especially the fast-maturing Alton, who matter. THE CARDTURNER is targeted at young adult readers but adult readers should also enjoy the interplay between characters and an offbeat look at a world that is generally experienced only by bridge addicts.

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar. The main character is just a normal teenager boy.When his really rich uncle gets diabetes and loses his eyesight Alton has to help him play a card game called bridge. So far my favorite part is when Alton convinces Trapp to go play at nationals for bridge.
Alton is getting more experienced at Bridge. He has with Toni, Tapps old cardturner. Trapp has been playing forever but at least twenty years ago. He had stopped but now he is doing it again. The whole reason he decided to stop is because his old partner. Who one day got in trouble by her husband. So she had to sneak out. When her husband found out he went insane.
One day she was playing bridge and her husband found out. He put her in a insane asylum.
By,Isyss

An amazing bridge player loses his sight and still plays top-level bridge so long as his "card turner" simply tells him the cards once. As the author agrees, this would be a pretty good book for people who play bridge. I don't, and it was still a 2 star. But I had hoped to read it aloud for a group that includes people with vision impairment, and the book fails bigtime as a read-aloud. Too many bridge diagrams, for one thing.

Like a few other reviewers, I generally don't novels with overly technical passages, which is why I appreciated the whale symbol [which invites you to skip over the technical part and go straight to the boxed short summary]. However, this was the coolest novel ever. The premise was original and was carried through pretty elegantly. The characters were funny and complex, and Alton [the main character] was a really great main character [as was Lester]. Even though this was marketed to teen/YA readers, I think it would work well for adults. I was impressed with the novel's subtlety, and I'd like to re-read it soon.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this novel. It has a very engaging storyline about a young boy who becomes a card turner for his blind uncle. The game of Bridge is much more intricate than I ever imagined. I can see why it was so popular on those long summer evenings without television.

It shouldn't be surprising to readers of HOLES that Louis Sachar loves a game that relies on intricate strategy, memory, and complex thought. Even if you don't know anything about bridge (which I don't), the characters are compelling and sympathetic (and occasionally frustrating, as all great characters are -- stand up for yourself, Alton!!), and the plot is as tightly constructed as all Sachar's books are.

This story has the game of Bridge as its connecting theme and it is a great connector if you like playing cards. However, Louis Sachar once again introduces you to characters you like and root for. The added bonus is without trying you learn the rules of Bridge. It has always been on my list of games to learn but now due to the authors obvious love of the game, I want to make it a priority.

This book changed my gender-favorite type of book to read, I don't want to spoil anything for you, however I fell in love with Alton and the Grandoa. i could not stop reading, I took a flashlight inti my room and kept reading until I finished, it was so early that I skept school, So give it a try :) And by the way I am from Ecuador, and have absolytely no idea what this bridge game is, so I hardly understood what the heck they'd talk about. I was very skeptical at fiest since I have always read other more serious and also romantic books, but this one definitely got me ❤️

I enjoyed the overall plot to the story. Halfway through reading the book, I felt like screaming at Louis. "You just killed the main character. What do you think you're doing?!!" But as I read on, I realised the wonderful ending would never have been possibe if he had lived.
I reccomend this book to anyone who wants to wrap their heads around the challenging game of bridge.

Most everyone in my family plays bridge. We joke that we chained my daughter to the bridge table when she was very young. Well, she now has fifteen year old twins. I bought this book to entice them in into playing bridge. It didn't hurt at all that the author is well respected for his YA novels.

bridge happens to be my favorite hobby and that unfortunately is why i am not a fantastic player. after reading this book and learning how master duplicate players are, i understand.

mr. sachar i have been a fan of your books since my son read one and wrote to you thanking you for writing such a fine book. you were very kind and responded and he still has your letter.

please do continue to write about bridge --perhaps i can become more consistent with my leads.

Mr. Sachar, what were you thinking? I know how to play bridge, but I don't want my stories interrupted every few pages with lectures about the rules and play of the game -- much less with diagrams and card-by-card descriptions of specific hands. Granted, you set off the rules and descriptions in separately marked paragraphs, so the reader could skip them. But if you suspected that readers in general would want to skip them for lack of interest, then why would you think that detailed rules of play for bridge should be included in a _teen_ book? Teens don't even read the operating instructions for their newest electronic gadgets.

To be fair, the story itself is a fun, teen relationship story. I encourage readers to skip the heavy bridge lessons, and just read the story for its own sake. You will not miss anything pertaining to the story itself. I gave it 2 stars because of the awkward format, and difficulty reading an interrupted story. The story alone would be 4 stars.

This book should be boring, but against all odds it captivated my attention. I have no interest in playing bridge and even after reading, probably couldn't remember enough to play a hand, but the story of Alton and Toni and Trapp and Anabel is one I won't likely forget.

bridge happens to be my favorite hobby and that unfortunately is why i am not a fantastic player. after reading this book and learning how master duplicate players are, i understand.

mr. sachar i have been a fan of your books since my son read one and wrote to you thanking you for writing such a fine book. you were very kind and responded and he still has your letter.

please do continue to write about bridge --perhaps i can become more consistent with my leads.