Mystery March – Michael Wagner – Destiny’s Right Hand

I think this book is an excellent bridge between Mystery March and Autism Awareness April as it has elements of both.

Set in Melbourne, Destiny’s Right Hand is about a teenage boy, Eddie, who meets Destiny whilst she was unsuccessfully shoplifting. He notices her anguish, confusion and lack of confidence in what she was doing and so pays for the item she stole, thus starting their friendship. As the story goes on we find out that Destiny’s right hand has been transplanted and is supposedly making her steal things.  Here is the mystery – is Destiny telling the truth?  Who was the previous owner of the hand?  Was she a thief?  Why is Destiny stealing? Is there any significance in what she steals? And so on.  As Eddie helps Destiny he recruits the help of another boy, one who is good with computers and has Asperger’s.  Through seeing Eddie’s sympathetic (but sometime manipulative) dealings with Noah we learn about Noah’s struggle with social situations and rule following.  At times I wonder whether Noah is somewhat stereotyped but then so is Destiny and some of the other characters.  An interesting and fun read but not that memorable.