“Tyrell,” by Coe Booth (Scholastic Press, 320 pages, $16.99) The final chapter is both ambiguous and quite specific. Unfortunately, Shmuel lives on the other side of the fence at the place Bruno phonetically calls “Out-With,” as in “Out with the people who lived here before us,” Bruno’s sister loftily explains.įor readers who know the horrific story of the death camps, Bruno’s cluelessness seems almost willful and implausible. The first two problems dissolve with the fortuitous but limited friendship with another boy his age. “The Boy in Striped Pajamas,” by John Boyne (David Frickling Books, 224 pages, $15.95) The lambent language reflects the overwhelming superstitions of the period, and the themes of loyalty, conflict and deception are timeless. “At the Edge of the World” is even better than its Newbery Award-winning predecessor. Crispin finds help and solace in the friendship of a healer’s apprentice who also is a social outcast. They’re eluding a syndicate known as the Brotherhood, a syndicate convinced that Bear is a traitor.Ĭrispin’s new status as a free man becomes almost nominal as the pair hastens to avoid the pack.Ĭrispin’s thrill at encountering a world beyond his village of Great Wexley is compromised when Bear becomes gravely injured and grows worse when their presence provokes the murder of a new friend. This elegant sequel to Avi’s “Crispin: The Cross of Lead” finds the 14th-century adolescent orphan and his guardian, Bear, on the lam.

“Crispin: At the Edge of the World,” by Avi (Hyperion, 240 pages, $16.99) Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu

Out of Focus by Margaret Buffie