Best of All Worlds

Gr 9 Up–Xavier Oaks, his father, and his very pregnant stepmother are enjoying a weekend at their lake house but wake up to find the lake gone and a farm in its place. Upon exploration, they realize that they’re inside a transparent dome made from an impenetrable substance. Fast forward three years, and Xavier, 16, has a healthy brother, Noah, and has become quite the farmer. The Oaks assume (with no solid evidence) that they’ve been abducted by aliens. They long for home, but are making the best of things, when overnight, a new family arrives. Much to Xavier’s excitement, this family includes a beautiful girl his age, Mackenzie, and her little sister, the perfect playmate for Noah. However, this family has a different theory about their abduction, and the father’s fervent desire for escape could have grave consequences for the Oaks family. The story delves deeply into politically charged topics, including vaccines, pandemics, gun control, climate change, government conspiracies, and the “great replacement theory.” Stereotypes on both sides of the political aisle are deftly explored through these characters, but above all, this is the definition of a page-turner.