“Science Fair,” by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, $18.99
If the movie rights haven’t been sold for this romp, it’s only a matter of time. Eighth-grader Toby Harbinger and his pals team up against their über-rich, cheating classmates in a race to win the $5,000 prize offered at the school science fair. Behind the clueless richies: a scheming team of revolutionaries and a whip-smart henchman scientist.
Behind the almost equally clueless Toby & Co.: Nobody, really, and they’re also battling a Darth Vader impersonator who’s after the highly collectible “Star Wars” ephemera collection that belongs to Toby’s dippy parents. All that’s missing is a good soundtrack in this story that successfully nails its target audience of preteen and adolescent readers. Ages 10 and up.
“Chains,” by Laurie Halse Anderson, $16.99
A National Book Award finalist, this extraordinary novel about Isabel, 13, a slave grappling with life during the American Revolution, presents a rare view of history.
Author Anderson, whose excellent historical novel “Fever 1793” would make an excellent companion to this book for a holiday gift, began working on “Chains” after her dismaying discovery that Benjamin Franklin was a slave owner. In “Chains,” she examines the prerevolutionary country that becomes the USA, warts and all — and there are quite a few warts.
Meticulously researched, with riveting characters that leave readers wanting to know more about them — Isabel’s little sister, Ruth, is a compellingly elusive figure — “Chains” is a book for any fan of the National History Day program. And that includes adult fans. The enigmatic ending seems to promise a sequel; let’s hope so, anyway. Ages 10 and up.
“Chandra’s Wars,” by Allan Stratton, $17.99
This sequel to “Chanda’s Secrets” offers a definitive explanation for American readers who wonder why, when things go south in other countries, people don’t just pack up and move. In this story, Chandra rescues children kidnapped to be young soldiers forced to commit and witness horrific crimes, and finds herself presented as a child bride prospect for an abusive neighbor.
As in “Chandra’s Secrets,” everyone is hyper-aware of AIDS and HIV, so widespread and so taboo that people won’t talk about why they need plastic bags before treating a wound. Few books illustrate so vividly the gulf between the comfortable lives enjoyed by young Americans, and the hand-to-mouth existence of impoverished children like Chandra. Ages 11 and up.
“The Disappeared,” by Gloria Whelan, $16.99.
The rebellious teenager whose brother “disappears” one night, taken away by Argentinian government thugs, is impetuous and cunning. She contrives a relationship with the son of a highly ranked general, hoping to coax him into setting her brother free.
In a Disney movie, the general’s son might renounce his corrupt father and help her. Not in this book, which hews close to the realities of 1970s Argentina. Silvia’s scheme is perilous, potentially endangering the lives of her whole family, including her brother. The issue of political prisoners is framed in a story that will shock young readers who’ve been dozing in social studies. Ages 12 and up.
“The Lump of Coal,” by Lemony Snicket, $12.99
Really, only Lemony Snicket could offer this sentimental thought: “Miracles are like pimples, because once you start looking for them, you find more than you ever dreamed you’d see.” That sets the tone for this sibling of “The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming.”
This time, a sentient lump of coal goes on a quest to become an artist, encountering a snooty gallery owner and the deceptive owner of a Korean barbecue restaurant. When Santa — not really Santa, but a drugstore employee in Santa drag who says, “The real Santa is at the mall” — encounters the lump of coal and installs him in a naughty boy’s stocking, miracles do ensue, in a Snickety way. All ages.
