“A Small White Scar,” by K.A. Nuzum (HarperCollins, 180 pages, $15.99)
Colorado author K.A. Nuzum’s debut novel is as muscular and unpredictable as the rodeos that enthrall her protagonist, 15- year-old Will.
The son of a cattle rancher with a spread on the plains near La Junta, Will yearns to break free of what he sees as a life of servitude to his twin brother, Denny, who has Down syndrome. Will counts on winning the big-purse events at the La Junta rodeo to finance more rodeo competitions and to secure another job where he can focus on being a cowboy.
When Denny follows him to the rodeo, Will’s plans go awry. Denny follows Will as stubbornly as a cattle dog pursuing an errant steer. Denny withstands a rattlesnake, a flash flood and a devastating fight that permanently changes both brothers.
Nuzum writes movingly about the landscapes, physical and emotional, that shape Will. Her portrait of Denny is sympathetic but not cloying, and her articulate explanation of rodeo events brings noncowboys a new comprehension of the nuances that bulldogging and calf-roping require. Ages 9 and up.
“Victory,” by Susan Cooper (Margaret K. Elderry Books, 208 pages, $16.95)
Nobody who reads this will forget that the phrase “pressed into service” came from the cruel British military custom of enlisting boys and young men by kidnapping or tricking them. In this book, 11-year-old Sam unwillingly becomes a powder monkey on HMS Victory, the battleship that will take the vice admiral Lord Nelson to his death during the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.
Sam’s rough introduction to a nautical career parallels the abruptly transplanted life of Molly Jennings, a present-time English girl unhappily following her parents to the U.S. Molly’s bookshop discovery of a peculiarly gripping copy of “A Life of Nelson,” together with an envelope that contains a bit of the Victory’s flag, compels her to pursue an investigation that links her life to Sam’s.
Susan Cooper, whose masterful storytelling reinvigorates 200-year-old history with electricity, brings the best of plausible fantasy and compelling narrative to her newest book. Fans of her award-winning “The Dark Is Rising” series will liked this one too. Ages 9 and up.
“The Foreshadowing,” by Marcus Sedgwick (Wendy Lamb Books, 304 pages, $16.95)
Sedgwick, who wrote the compelling “Days of the Dead Book” and its companion “The Dark Flight Down,” reinvents the cursed Greek prophet Cassandra as Alexandra, an English schoolgirl.
Terrifying visions of her elder brother’s impending death haunt young Sasha’s dreams and lead her to the battlefields of World War I. Sedgwick pulls no punches in showing the war’s ugliest aspects, including crippled soldiers, vindictive field nurses and men quick to shoot first and ask questions later.
Unlike her literary antecessor, Sasha refuses to yield to what seems inevitable. Convinced that sheer will can help reshape destiny, she sets out to change what may be unchangeable. But is it possible? Ages 10 and up.
“The House of Arden,” by E. Nesbit (New York Review of Books, 428 pages, $17.95)
The venerable British writer E. Nesbit is the latest author being reissued by the New York Review Children’s Collection. The witty, articulate Nesbit inspired countless authors, including J.K. Rowling, and her books should be on any shelf that includes the Harry Potter series.
In this book, an impoverished young brother and sister inherit a castle and the conditional promise of hidden treasure. The catch: The treasure must be unearthed before the sister’s 10th birthday, or the children lose the castle and the treasure forever.
The task requires magic and the attendant suspension of disbelief, and a little time travel that will amuse adult history buffs. “The House of Arden” may be the most charming and artful book from this celebrated writer. Ages 8 and up.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-820-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
