Let the good times roll! We're so proud of all our awesome authors and their glowing reviews this spring. Add another great one to David Patneaude and EPITAPH ROAD's pile this time from School Library Journal. Congrats, Dave!

PATNEAUDE, David. Epitaph Road. 272p. Egmont USA. 2010. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-055-9; PLB $19.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-070-2. LC number unavailable.

Gr 6–10—Fourteen-year-old Kellen lives in a future in which 97 percent of the world's male population has been killed off by a virus. Women have taken over all governments and have relegated the remaining men to second-class-citizen status. Boys like Kellen have very few options. Something sinister is brewing, and an uprising of men who live independent of female rule coincides with a new outbreak of the virus. Kellen and his friends, Sunday and Tia, travel to the Olympic Peninsula to investigate and make sure that Kellen's dad, who lives in the colony, is protected from the virus. Each chapter begins with a haunting epitaph for one of the deceased. Most of these epitaphs express sorrow, but some are clearly for men who were abusive and are not missed by survivors. The story is fast paced, and the concept intriguing. The competent world-building allows readers to fully accept the book's premise. The author makes intriguing points about gender relations and the danger of polarization. The ending is satisfying in and of itself, but it does leave a potential opening for Kellen to have further adventures. This dystopian thriller will appeal to fans of the genre. Those who liked Neal Schusterman's Unwind (S & S, 2007), in particular, will appreciate the way a specific current-events issue is incorporated into a science-fiction context.—Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH

A hat-trick for Darren Farrell this week on great reviews! Forthcoming in the March issue of School Library Journal...

FARRELL, Darren. Doug-Dennis and the Flyaway Fib. illus. by author. unpaged. CIP. Dial. 2009. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8037-3437-1. LC 2009012141.

PreS-Gr 1–Doug-Dennis, a sneaker and cap-wearing sheep, goes to the circus with Ben-Bobby, an elephant with jet-black hair. In the midst of the action, Dougy commits the cardinal friend-offense; he eats Ben-Bobby’s popcorn and then lies about it. After telling his fib, he is immediately launched into space where he is surrounded by all sorts of other liars (everyone from kids with imaginary friends to used-car salesmen) and eventually figures out that the only way to escape is to tell the truth. Farrell’s offhanded humor and the absolute absurdity of the situation and characters make this a fun lesson in truth-telling. The pen and ink and digitally created cartoon illustrations feel almost childlike in their imagination (the animals inexplicably have pink eye patches over one eye) and contain hidden gems of humor, much like the text. Each page contains dialogue and characters that offer funny asides and quips beyond the main story. Much like the work of funnymen Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith, and Mo Willems, some of the humor is intended for adults, but the absolute silliness of the story will have young readers giggling as well. Farrell takes the typically dull subject of lying and offers a wacky sheep and elephant friendship as a way of opening up family conversations about telling the truth.–Sarah Townsend, Norfolk Public Library, VA

DIAL

Farrell, Darren

DOUG-DENNIS AND THE FLYAWAY FIB 

Sheep Doug-Dennis and elephant Ben-Bobby are great friends, the type of buddies who go to the circus when bored. But when Doug-Dennis eats all of Ben-Bobby’s popcorn before the circus even starts, he decides to lie about it. The fib carries Doug-Dennis far away, into the heavens, as far as the truth will stretch. The story is told mostly through speech bubbles with amusing pen-and-ink cartoon drawings that move the familiar theme to a story of hilarious and exaggerated lengths. The image of the putty-limbed Doug-Dennis floating in outer space, attached only to his growing, speech-bubbled lie, among other lies and liars (“Who went pee? Where?” exclaims one innocent-looking little pup), will resonate with both young readers and the adults who read to them. This is no simple didactic treatise on the evils of lying; newcomer Farrell gives sound advice about getting out of a fib. Young readers and listeners will laugh with recognition at Doug-Dennis’s familiar plight and, after a few readings, will be reading it themselves. A promising first book; here’s hoping his second is just as funny. (Picture book. 4-8)

And what a lovely review it is! My favorite phrases include "serious wattage" and "Homer Simpson-like appeal." I don't know how you get much better than Homer Simpson. :)

Doug-Dennis and the Flyaway Fib Darren Farrell. Dial, $16.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8037-3437-1

Sharp-edged irony and wacky cartoon visuals provide newcomer Farrell's moral tale with some serious wattage. Doug-Dennis, a rather vacant-looking sheep with stick legs and red basketball sneakers, can't bring himself to confess that he's eaten his friend Ben-Bobby's popcorn. After he tells a fib (“Hmm, maybe it was monsters. Yeah, that's it, monsters!!”), he quickly gets “carried away”—quite literally—by the very speech balloons that contain his fibs. To the amazement of onlookers below, he floats across the continents on his own hot air before arriving in a sort of fibbers' purgatory in outer space. Surrounded by hardcore fibbers (“This limited time offer is the deal of the century!!!” announces a man with five o'clock shadow and a briefcase), Doug-Dennis is so lonely and unsettled that he finds it in himself to confess, which allows him to descend to earth and make up with Ben-Bobby. Despite the antifib message, the fibs are where all the entertainment is (“I invented the inter-web,” declares a spider), and the ethically unsteady Doug-Dennis has plenty of Homer Simpson–like appeal. Ages 5–8.(Mar.)