Atty at Law

"Atty is the smart, compassionate, and courageous advocate that animals need. I laughed, I cried, I cheered."
—Peg Kehret, author of Cages and Shelter Dogs

*“In his debut novel, Lockette deftly juggles issues of race (Atty and her father are white; Atty’s stepmother and Martinez are black), parental loss, bullying, animal rights, and much more in this touching and at times laugh-out-loud tale of a lawyer-to-be. Atty’s voice is authentic, and her trials (both in court and in school) will resonate with readers. A double-must-read for all animal lovers.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Atty at Law is issue-laden, true. Yet it categorically refuses to talk down to its intended audience. Instead, it gently challenges that audience at every turn. For Tim Lockette knows, as he has Atty tell us, 'Maybe life just has a certain amount of sadness in it and you just have to cry from time to time to let it out.'"
—Anniston Star

"And finally here’s a book that celebrates speaking up for those without a voice. It features multi-racial family in the contemporary south and is a legal thriller in the vein of the Theodore Boone series by Grisham, but with considerably more heart. Our advocate Atticus Peale who goes by Atty is an animal lover and uses the law to save a shelter dog. She then tries to advocate for a considerably less sympathetic animal and her efforts intersect with her father’s. He is an attorney defending an illiterate man facing a murder charges."
—Equal Opportunity Today

"This is his debut novel and I truly hope the first of many. The book is for young readers, and although I am definitely not one, I enjoyed it thoroughly — for the characters created, the issues addressed, and for the very clever allusions and references which the young reader will not recognize but which are a delight to those who notice them."
—Tuscaloosa News