New Books

Young Adult

"The Other Side of the Island" by Allegra Goodman - Honor lives in a dystopian world ruled by benevolent Earth Mother, where conformity is prized, the world is peaceful, and the Corporation has controlled the weather since the Flood. But Honor’s parents dare to be different, having a second child and pressuring Honor to remember things everyone else is trying to forget. By the time Honor is 13, she cannot understand why her parents refuse to follow the rules, even as she becomes more grimly determined to be the perfect student. For a slightly younger age group than the current crop of dystopian and apocalyptic novels, the book is at its best when it’s inside Honor’s head, as she struggles to balance her parents’ unorthodoxy with her craving to belong. Information about how this new world came to be is teasingly dispensed, and that, too, will keep readers engaged. Less successful is a daring, yet sometimes confusing, rescue at the story’s conclusion. Still, as with many books in the genre, this offers readers plenty to consider, including how they might react in Honor’s place. Grades 6-9. --Ilene Cooper, Booklist

Juvenile Fiction

"Keeper of the Grail" by Michael P. Spradlin - Left as a baby at a monastery, Tristan has spent the last 14 years working with the gentle monks and pondering his identity. Facts surrounding his arrival there seem to indicate he is of noble birth. Yet even these suspicions in no way prepare him for what’s in store with the arrival of Sir Thomas and a group of Knights Templar on their way to the Holy Land. In short order, Thomas makes Tristan his squire, Tristan makes an enemy of malevolent Sir Hugh, and the warriors, with Tristan now among their ranks, head to the Saracen stronghold of Acre. Let the fighting begin! And so it does, with much of the book’s second half taken up with battles, skirmishes, and ambushes. The deadly action, uncompromising in many of its descriptions, may take center stage, but Spradlin smartly doesn’t neglect story. Tristan is given an immense challenge and responsibility and meets new friends, whose names clever readers will find familiar. The stirring saga ends with a true cliff-hanger, priming fans for the next installment. Grades 5-8. --Ilene Cooper, Booklist

Picture Books

"Alex and Lulu: Two of a Kind" by Lorena Siminovich - Alex and Lulu are best friends. That’s because they like a lot of the same things: running, jumping, and swinging at the park. But there are ways in which the duo differ, and when Lulu notes—“We are just SO different”—Alex begins to worry. He remembers that Lulu doesn’t like soccer because it squashes her flowers. He wants to play ship’s captain, and she wants to paint. Oh, dear. Alex confronts Lulu with the news that they might be dreaded opposites, but she calmly tells him she doesn’t think so. Opposites are things like big and small, wet and dry, slow and fast. Alex and Lulu may be different, but they are “together.” There are many books about friends who don’t see eye to eye, but this one is notable both for the clarity of its message and for the delightfulness of its art. In simple language (and with the added bonus of a lesson in opposites), this cat girl, Lulu, and dog boy, Alex, capture the essence of friendship and find the ways differences can enhance compatibility. (In the last spread Lulu is painting the cardboard boat that Alex is piloting.) This is also a particularly attractive piece of bookmaking. Alex and Lulu frolic on hefty pages against backgrounds of saturated color. Simple geometric shapes, bright colors, and bits of collage invite little ones into a safe, yet expansive world. Preschool-Grade 1. --Ilene Cooper, Booklist