Dust City

Gr 8 Up—Henry Whelp is a wolf, and not just any wolf—he's one of the animals that has evolved to human size and intelligence. His father is in prison for murdering a girl and her grandmother, à la Little Red Riding Hood, while Henry is living at a juvenile detention facility. With help from his human friend Jack (possessor of magic beans, of course), Henry escapes from the home and obtains letters his father wrote to him about the real circumstances surrounding his crime. Dad worked for Skinner, the mobster who controls illegal trade in dust—manufactured quasi-fairydust that causes wishes to become reality—and he asks his son to investigate what happened to the fairies who used to provide the real thing. Henry starts running dust for Skinner in an attempt to discover the truth, facing ever-increasing danger. He's aided by Fiona, a beautiful young female wolf, and the two eventually travel to the fairies' former home, the floating city of Eden, where they risk their lives to reveal the fairies' fate. This dark tale will appeal to fractured fairy tale and "Hunger Games" fans alike, and its urgency and obvious parallels to real drugs ring true in spite of the imagined setting and characters. There's some extreme violence, including some committed by the generally sympathetic Henry, but it contributes to the story's immediacy and sense of danger.—Beth L. Meister, Milwaukee Jewish Day School, WI