The Cardturner
Readers rate it 3.9 (20 on Hardcover)
336 pages · Released May 3, 2026 · Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Content report card
The Cardturner parent’s guide: what’s inside
Violence
LGBTQ+ themes
Substance use
What it offers
A note for parents
The Cardturner is a thoughtful coming-of-age novel by a celebrated author that explores themes of perception, connection, and personal growth through Alton's relationship with his great-uncle. The story touches on mature themes like mortality, greed, and romantic disappointment, but handles them with restraint and emotional depth rather than graphic content. It offers strong positive messages about empathy, integrity, and looking beyond surface appearances, with well-drawn role models who demonstrate genuine growth and care. The novel includes some mild language and sexual references appropriate to the teenage protagonist's perspective, but nothing graphic.
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From the publisher
From Louis Sachar, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Newbery Medal for HOLES, comes the young adult novel THE CARDTURNER, an exploration of the human condition.How are we supposed to be partners? He can't see the cards and I don't know the rules!The summer after junior year of high school looks bleak... From Louis Sachar, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Newbery Medal for HOLES, comes the young adult novel THE CARDTURNER, an exploration of the human condition.How are we supposed to be partners? He can't see the cards and I don't know the rules!The summer after junior year of high school looks bleak for Alton Richards. His girlfriend has dumped him to hook up with his best friend. He has no money and no job. His parents insist that he drive his great-uncle Lester to his bridge club four times a week and be his cardturner--whatever that means. Alton's uncle is old, blind, very sick, and very rich.But Alton's parents aren't the only ones trying to worm their way into Lester Trapp's good graces. They're in competition with his longtime housekeeper, his alluring young nurse, and the crazy Castaneda family, who seem to have a mysterious influence over him.Alton soon finds himself intrigued by his uncle, by the game of bridge, and especially by the pretty and shy Toni Castaneda. As the summer goes on, he struggles to figure out what it all means, and ultimately to figure out the meaning of his own life.Through Alton's wry observations, Louis Sachar explores the disparity between what you know and what you think you know. With his incomparable flair and inventiveness, he examines the elusive differences between perception and reality--and inspires readers to think and think again.From the Hardcover edition.
Shelved under
- Blind
- Bridge (Game)
- Uncles
- Juvenile Fiction
- People with disabilities
- Fiction
- Interpersonal relations
- Dead
- New York Times reviewed
- Contract bridge
- Inheritance and succession
- Children's fiction
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ISBN 9780385736626 · Delacorte Books for Young Readers