Middle of Nowhere

Gr 5-8--When 12-year-old Curtis's mother leaves him and his five-year-old brother, Artie, without warning, Curtis does everything he can to prevent Social Services from finding out. However, he soon discovers that he has an ally: a crotchety elderly neighbor who needs his help as well. Mrs. Burt takes the boys from their rundown apartment to a remote country cabin where Curtis learns about wilderness living, and Artie's allegiances waver. Smooth writing, appropriate pacing, well-chosen details, and a well-crafted sense of place make this book an easy read, particularly in the second half where readers learn about day-to-day life in a remote wilderness and find themselves cheering for the narrator's courage and determination. Curtis's convincingly reasonable voice makes it almost possible to overlook various plot flaws: his utter lack of suspicion or curiosity, or sense of moral dilemma. For a less-problematic hiding-from-social-workers offering, readers might prefer Jennifer Richard Jacobson's Small As an Elephant (Candlewick, 2011), or Traci L. Jones's Silhouetted by the Blue (Farrar, 2011).--Rhona Campbell, Washington DC Public Library