Every Saturday for the past year, eleven-year-old Ryan indignantly visits his father who sits in a jail cell. Supposedly, his father is innocent --- at least that's what Ryan is told. Yet Ryan witnessed with his own eyes as his dad pleaded guilty in front of a judge. Ryan feels like he's been betrayed, and it doesn't help at all that the entire town now shuns him and his family. As the time for Saturday's visit approaches, Ryan can't stand it another minute and decides to be somewhere else during prison visiting hour.

As he furiously rides off on his bike, Ryan experiences a bad collision with a vehicle. Wounded and out of sorts, he struggles as a flat-faced stranger picks him up and loads him into the back of a station wagon. Then Ryan loses consciousness. He wakes up in the hospital feeling sore and bruised but not seriously hurt. Still not ready to face his father again, he decides to slip out before his mom can claim him. But just as he's about to leave, a fire alarm sounds and chaos erupts. Ryan knows the way out, yet he witnesses Kaylee, the girl from the hospital bed next to his, heading in the wrong direction. He has to help her.

Ryan finds Kaylee and four others, one of whom leads them in the wrong direction. Soon they are hopelessly lost, cut off by the smoke and flames. They break through a locked door and find themselves in an infectious disease lab, exposed to a horribly deadly disease. The doctors have five antidotes for the six infected people. They agree to draw straws. Kaylee loses, so she will die.

However, Ryan refuses to accept this result. Before anyone can react, he grabs the five antidotes and divides them into six doses. But this doesn't work --- four people end up dead, and Ryan is arrested for manslaughter.

Terrified and alone, yet still certain he had done the right thing, Ryan is taken to prison to await trial. He soon meets Hezekiah, the eccentric old lawyer assigned to him. Ryan immediately realizes that Hezekiah is no ordinary lawyer, but he has no clue as to just how remarkable this sneaker-wearing attorney really is. Hezekiah is part of a special group of lawyers called Legal Eagles, who battle the evil in the law system. Hezekiah and the Legal Eagles introduce Ryan to a world of law that he never could have never imagined --- one with time travel!

Using special tools called leapholes, Ryan and Hezekiah travel back in time to actually witness and experience events leading up to the laws working in the court system today. And the surprises don't end there; Hezekiah invites Ryan to join the Legal Eagles. But when Hezekiah disappears into the past, Ryan must find the courage and strength to locate his lawyer. And what Ryan sees may finally bring peace and understanding back between him and his father.

LEAPHOLES is James Grippando's first novel for young adults. He uses his background as a lawyer to weave a fast-paced story that takes a non-traditional look at the law and, very importantly, the people behind those laws. Not just a story for future lawyers, many will enjoy reading about an exciting journey that brings to life the sometimes-confusing and seemingly remote world of law. Added bonuses include a list of discussion questions that will assist in classroom and book club conversations, and a collection of essays by lawyers on their backgrounds and why they chose to study law.

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