The Boy at the Top of the Mountain

John Boyne

Abandoned by his violent alcoholic father and orphaned by the death of his mother, Pierrot Fischer must leave his dog and a beloved Jewish friend as hints of World War II emerge. The story’s cold pinnacle comes as he moves in with his aunt, a housekeeper in Adolf Hitler’s Austrian home, and embraces the dictator’s volatile attention, turning on all who have shown him love. Boyne couples sympathetic characters with war-related themes and gritty historical material. The book has a redemptive ending, but its violence, including sexual assault, requires adult-level discussion and understanding. (Ages 14-up)

Children of Exile

Margaret Peterson Haddix

Twelve-year-old Rosi and her little brother Bobo, along with dozens of other children, must leave the safety of their idyllic life in Fredtown and return to their biological parents. Unlike her “Fred-parents,” Rosi’s birth mother is cold and cruel and her father blind and maimed, and the town is laden with secrets, which Rosi discovers have something to do with eye color. A compassionate missionary and an estranged friend give Rosi the courage to uncover the mystery behind the town’s cruel prejudices. Haddix offers suspense but little warmth in this trilogy opener that may stir up emotions for readers who are adopted. (Ages 10-up)

The Wingsnatchers: Carmer and Grit

Sarah Jean Horwitz

“Carmer,” an orphaned magician’s apprentice and aspiring inventor, convinces his flailing traveling team to participate in the most prestigious competition for stage illusionists. While exploring the host city, he meets Grit, a one-winged faerie princess. The two set out to unravel an industrialist’s scheme to enslave faeries as a cheap source of power. The first in a series, Horwitz’s debut fantasy novel flavors good storytelling with magic tricks, faerie dust, and steampunk machinery. The story bolsters imagination but rings true as scientific advancement—and a scheme led by a “crusader for the tide of progress”—comes with a cost. (Ages 10-14)

Fishbone’s Song

Gary Paulsen

An unnamed boy of “thirteen … or fourteen, maybe fifteen,” has learned much of what he knows from “Fishbone,” an old man who sits on the porch of a backwoods cabin sipping “moonshine” and telling stories. Devoid of “true love … either with a woman or Jesus,” Fishbone’s reflections blur truth with allegory, creating a confusing reality for an absorbent coming-of-age boy. Readers inclined to hunting, animal life, and survival in nature may enjoy the boy’s discovery and resourcefulness—but the story skews as Newbery-winning author Gary Paulsen candidly romanticizes a life of isolation, wild living, and alcoholism. (Ages 12-up)

Afterword

Mother-son duo Jonah and Jeanette Winter’s The Secret Project (Beach Lane Books, 2017) introduces a topic perhaps no other children’s picture book has: the atomic bomb.

The story’s opener—“In the beginning”—reveals Genesis-like overtones. Illustrator Jeanette Winter uses light to depict a peaceful desert landscape where schoolboys play. Pictures darken as the U.S. government closes the school and builds a secret laboratory where silhouette figures race to invent something “gigantic.” Ten concluding pages silently depict the bomb’s test run—a countdown, explosion, and then blackness.

The “Author’s Note” offers more historical context for World War II and the Manhattan Project. Author Jonah Winter tells Kirkus Review a museum exhibit inspired the picture book: “You don’t need a lot of words … children can handle the truth.” Maybe, but The Secret Project leaves its recommended readers (ages 5-8) with many unanswered questions, so parents should be prepared to address this heavy and complex topic. —M.J.