lacrosse field, forbidden midnight feasts
in dormitory rooms, play rehearsals, and
tea outings, the story keeps readers puzzling past its riveting climax, all the way
to its gratifying conclusion. Ages 8–12.
(Mar.)
The League of Beastly Dreadfuls
Holly Grant, illus. by Josie Portillo. Random,
$16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-385-37007-3
Peculiarities abound inside Saint Agony’s
Asylum, where “completely average
almost-eleven-year-old” Anastasia
McCrumpet is doomed to spend her
days after her parents are allegedly
hospitalized in a “freak vacuum-
cleaning accident.” To escape her
strange (and heretofore unknown)
great-aunts Primrose and Prudence,
who gnash their metal choppers at
breakfast and lock her inside a musty
old room at sundown, Anastasia
explores the asylum’s cavernous halls
seeking a way back to her hometown of
Mooselick. First-time author Grant is gifted
at immersing readers in her fantastical
world, infused with comically absurd details
like Anastasia’s grudge-holding “revenge-
pooper” guinea pig and descriptions of her
inhospitable new home, “as cold and clammy
as an octopus hug.” As the first book in a
planned series, this fanciful introduction
to shapeshifters and shadow dwellers sets
the tone for oddities to come while leaving
some key questions unanswered. It’s clear
that Anastasia is anything but average,
and her adventures are just beginning as
the book comes to a close. Finished art not
seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent:
Brianne Johnson, Writers House. (Mar.)
Moon Bear
Gill Lewis, illus. by Alessandro Gottardo.
S&S/Atheneum, $16.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-
4814-0094-7
In northern Laos, 12-year-old Tam and
his family endure one hardship after the
next. His family is forced out of its moun-
tain home to make way for a road, a
hidden bomb kills his father, and Tam is
sent away to work a dangerous job
tending a handful of caged bears for a man
known as the Doctor. Lewis’s (Wild Wings)
simple word choice and sentence structure
belie the rich atmosphere and symbolism
that she deftly integrates into this tale,
which is populated by relatable and fully
where,” his mother snaps. “Work and
more work.” But he sets off anyway, and
finds that strangers order him about (“You
boy.... Help me stack these crates on my
barge!”), he doesn’t mind obeying, and his
willingness to work can take him any-
where he wants to go. He ventures to sea,
reaching China, India, and Ceylon, where
he discovers tea, indigo, and cinnamon,
respectively. The tacked-on information
about the products of these countries
seems unnecessary—the heart of the story
is Tom’s mastery of his
own fate. Pérez’s
three-masted ships
and visions of far-off
lands (the only place
he uses flashes of satu-
rated color) provide
plenty of visual suste-
nance. Readers will be
surprised to find that
some 19th-century
children (well, some boys, anyway) may
have had more freedom than they do.
Ages 6–9. (Mar.)
Fiction
The Girl with the Glass Bird
Esme Kerr. Scholastic/Chicken House,
$16.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-545-69984-6
Kerr’s suspenseful British-boarding-school mystery is full of secrets, murky
characters, and psychological intrigue.
Ever since 11-year-old Edie’s blind grand-
mother, who has cared for her following her
parents’ death, was forced into a nursing
home, Edie has been living miserably at
Folly Farm with her nasty cousins. This
changes when her unpleasant uncle, god-
father to Russian princess Anastasia
Stolonov, plants Edie at an old-fashioned,
excessively strict boarding school for girls
as an undercover spy to discover who is
tormenting the princess. Is Anastasia par-
anoid? Or simply careless? It’s sharp-eyed
Edie’s assignment to find out. Despite her
uncle’s warning to avoid growing close to
the princess, the girls quickly bond. With
several fellow students and a trio of adults
as plausible suspects, an ambiance of growing
mistrust permeates the novel; it’s deepened
by mounting questions about the nature
of the headmistress’s connection to Edie’s
late mother. Set among skirmishes on the
stick, and as he counts to 10 before hitting
the animal (a process that stretches over
several pages), the son, named Goodwill,
races to stop his father. A whispered
“thank you” from the boy is all it takes for
Jackson to continue the journey. Outlined
in soft pencil, Jude Daly’s warm, folkloric
paintings reduce the story to its simplest
elements while effectively conjuring a
rural South African setting. The story
would make a fine readaloud alongside
other “man and donkey” tales from Aesop,
Nasruddin, and others. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)
Edmund Unravels
Andre w Kolb. Penguin/Paulsen, $16.99 (40p)
ISBN 978-0-399-16914-4
Edmund Loom is an anthropomorphized ball of turquoise yarn with wanderlust. While his parents are always
“reeling him in and rolling him back up,”
writes newcomer Kolb, they never try to
quash his explorations. One day, Edmund
rolls far away and encounters a (mostly)
friendly world filled with new places and
friends; even being chased by kittens is
“part of the adventure.” But Edmund
eventually misses “familiar places and
friendly faces,” and when he feels the literal tug of family and friends, he’s happy
to return home—at least for a little while.
Kolb has a bright, clean drawing style
that will remind readers of their favorite
contemporary animation, and his panoramas (sometimes stacked three to a
page) make it fun to follow Edmund’s
travels and the trail of yarn he leaves in his
wake. But while Kolb’s first book is
impressive for its visual playfulness and
its astute take on child development, literal-minded readers may wonder why no
matter how much Edmund unravels, he
never seems to get any smaller. Ages 5–8.
Agent: Laurie Abkemeier, DeFiore and
Company. (Mar.)
Work and More Work
Linda Little, illus. by Óscar T. Pérez.
Groundwood (PGW, dist.), $18.95 (32p) ISBN
978-1-55498-383-4
The icy silvers and grays of Pérez’s artwork give the pages of Little’s first picture
book a chilly look, but readers—like Tom,
the story’s hero—should forge ahead
regardless. Tom’s family has nothing but
discouraging words for him when he asks
about life in town: “It’s the same every-
