Synopsis Amedeo Kaplin longs to discover something; he also wants to find a true friend. William Wilcox is an unlikely candidate, but the two boys find themselves working together on a house sale for Amdedeo's eccentric neighbour, Mrs Zender. Ever item in Mrs Zender's mansion has its own story, The boys become caught up in one particular story about a picture, a young boy, an old man and a painful secret dating back to the outrages of Nazi German – a story that takes them to the edge of what they know about the heroism and the mystery of the human heart.

Review: E L Konigsburg is one of the writers I'd forgotten about, although I'm not sure why. I first discovered her work as a child when I read and reread several of her books, so it was a huge pleasure to rediscover her writing through 'The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World', and to realise that, like its predecessors, it too echoes round the brain even while the covers are closed.

Mrs Zendor is a splendidly melodramatic character but it was the mothers who really caught my eye - pre-occupied with work (Amedeo's) and over-anxious to promote harmony (William's and Peter's) they give their sons the space to unravel the plot and to grow and develop in ways which are intriguing.

The plot is also surprising as it approaches the history of Nazi Germany through modern art – an unlikely device in a children's novel but one that is so expertly handled that I came away anxious to know even more and to go and look at the paintings which Hitler denounced as so unsuitable. This is Konigsburg's real strength as a writer - she handles all the usual stuff – the characters, the dialogue and the narrative flow - expertly but she also educates her readers about big issues with the lightest possible touch.

 A really good novel by any standards, the quirky delights of 'The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World' would best be discovered by a wider audience through hearing it read aloud by an adult who assists in unravelling the ideas it explores.

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2008-06-29