This month's book reviews

A kid with a weird imagination
finds a reality that's even weirder

Nicholas Dill had been named for his dad, but everybody called him "Nickel" since his mom had called him that from the time he was a baby. "Nickel" was okay as a name, but he didn't like it when his teacher called him "Mr. Dill" - just too many pickle jokes. His best friend at school was Inez, a tall and very self-assured African American girl. Nickel, with his wild fantasies about animals, was spaced out most of the time. Inez would say "Hello, earth calling Nickel," and manage to get him tuned back in some of the time.

Nickel's mom was divorced from his dad. Nickel lived in an apartment in the city with his mom, but once a month spent a week-end with his dad in the suburbs. Nickel really preferred living in the inner city to living in a suburban neighborhood. He was never lonely anywhere since he carried Miriam, his pet kangaroo rat, with him everywhere he goes. He's constantly telling Miriam about the different animals he sees in cloud formations. He sees some kind of animal in every person he encounters. He uses an old camera to shoot pictures of those things he imagines he sees. Of course, his pictures never are as good as his imagination.

The landlord in the Gardenview apartments, where Nickel lives is a mean old grouch. He is constantly raising the rent. With the last raise, Nickel's mom says they will have to move since she can't afford the rent anymore. Nickel's biggest fear is they might move to the suburbs, so he starts keeping an eye out for a cheaper apartment for them in the city.

By accident, Nickel runs across a kind of isolated apartment building in a run-down part of town. It has a brass plate on the door that says "The Beastly Arms". His mother reluctantly agrees to take the apartment, which is large and newly painted, when Mr. Beastly offers to rent it to them for an unbelievably low price.

Nickel knows right away that there is something strange about Mr. Beastly and the apartment. However, Mr. Beastly likes animals and Nickel finds that he gets along very well with this landlord, whose real name, by the way, is Mr. Beasley, not Beastly. Nickel knows that there is something strange about this apartment building. Even though it's seven stories tall, there does not seem to be any other tenants living in it.

It turns out that there is a really wild secret about The Beastly Arms, but you need to read the book to find out what it is.

 

A suspense-filled novel about two kids
with a mission to free their parents

Aiden and Meg Falconer are brother and sister. Their parents have been falsely convicted of being traitors to their country. The two kids were hidden away on a Nebraska farm operated as a juvenile correction center. They hate the life in what the inmates call "Alcatraz Junior." They know they are innocent of any crimes and that, while imprisoned, there is no way they can help prove that their parents were framed.

As the result of an accidental fire in the cow barn that spread through the compound, the kids were able to escape into the countryside. They have no money, no plan, and no one on the outside who can offer them any assistance. Teen-aged Aiden can vaguely remember some pictures hidden in a vacation cottage in Vermont. One of them was of the FBI man who would have cleared his parents if only he had been available for their trial. The question is how can two kids make it across the country from Nebraska to Vermont without being caught by the authorities.

"Chasing the Falconers" is an adventurous, suspense-filled paperback that will keep you running along with the two Falconer kids. The bad news is that it is only book one of a projected series. You probably will want to pick up book two when it comes

 

A historical novel about the
Norman invasion of England in 1066

Those of us who are fans of the legends of Robin Hood know that the Normans invaded England and defeated the Saxons who ruled England at that time. The cruel and bloodthirsty Norman ruler who led the invaders across the English Channel was known as William the Conqueror. The army that was defeated was led by King Harold. The novel "The King's Shadow" is the story of Evyn, a young Welsh boy who became a trusted supporter of King Harold.

At the beginning of the novel, Evyn lives on a small farm in Wales with his father. Evyn is becoming well-known as a storyteller because of his unusual voice. His life is disrupted when his father, who is mistaken for someone else, is murdered. The murderers, to quiet a witness to their crime, cut out Evyn's tongue. Not only can he no longer tell stories, but at fourteen, Evyn is an orphan who cannot speak at all.

Evyn has to flee his homeland with his uncle, the one whom the killers had been looking for in the first place. His uncle finally sells Evyn into slavery since it appears that they were going to starve to death anyway. Of course, Evyn is bitter at his uncle and at the fate that had brought him to slavery. Fortunately for him, he ends up working for a scholarly monk who teaches him to read and write.

Since Evyn was unable to speak, others began to call him "Shadow" because he was so quiet. Circumstances brought him to the attention of Harold, the Earl of Wessex. The Earl needed an assistant who could read and write to help take care of his records and correspondence. Evyn proved his loyalty and bravery to the point that Harold freed him from slavery and made him his squire.

When Harold becomes King of England at the death of Edward the Confessor, Evyn, the onetime slave, becomes an influential member of the group who surrounds the King. Unfortunately, for the King and for England, Harold is confronted by rebellious attacks from his jealous brother at the same time the Normans are about to invade his kingdom.

"The King's Shadow" is an exciting adventure story. At the same time, it informs the reader about the actual events that drastically changed the history of England.