He spent his childhood reading everything he could get his hands on, from Jacqueline Wilson to Beano annuals, and it taught him pretty much everything that's worth knowing. It's coupled with a light sense of humour and the dialogue, although although a little unremarkable, will put a smile on your face.

He’s also clearly neglected to ensure Max’s peers understand how to foster normal, meaningful relationships with someone who happens to be deaf.Darrow somehow entirely replaced the aid's internal mechanisms with new equipment that aid manufacturers, audiologists, and innovators do not have access to. There is also the developing friendship between Max and Sasha, as well as Max's attempts to get him to understand the difficulties he has communicating with others. When a school caretaker mysteriously disappears, leaving behind a small pile of sand, a student is drawn into an extraordinary adventure.

Despite this, I enjoyed how Max's hearing aids were an important part of the story and the focus on him making friends and developing confidence in himself and his ability to communicate. Max and his roommate Sasha must save the tiny people and entertain Sasha’s baby sister and her summer campmates while keeping Mr. When I first picked this book up, I had a very distinct impression of what kind of story it would be: Arthur and the Invisibles meets Matilda in the 21st Century, and I was very happy to find that I wasn't far wrong.Given how well done the deafness is, the unrealistic savant MacGyvering HAs (reminiscent of Tony Stark’s “magic” HAs for Clint Barton) is disappointing. Max is shocked and awed by what he finds in Mr Darrow’s room, but in the caretaker’s abscence, his model people have built their own world, at war with itself.