Wastelander [Format Kindle]

Kids of all ages will love this off-beat adventure. Like Dorothy in Oz, twelve-year-old Lenny just wants to go home. But home is the Peterborough Landfill, where Lenny lives with his semi-medieval clan who dress in armor of flattened cans and eat such delicacies as rotten chicken nuggets and moldy bread. And there are no witches (good or otherwise), wizards, or magic shoes to help him return.

After a series of misadventures, Lenny finds himself imprisoned in a strange land where people live in concrete boxes and eat unripe (not moldy) food. He's forcibly introduced to such bazaar concepts as soap, showers, and underwear. Miserable from allergies and unable to digest the food, Lenny fears he may not survive to find his way back. He's befriended by Nora, a clever and resourceful girl, who figures out that Stilton cheese might meet his dietary requirements.

There's non-stop cliffhanger action as Nora and Lenny plot his escape and try to get him home. His allies on this odyssey include his father's pet crow, a sympathetic garbage collector, some fish-eating denizens of the sewage plant, and a clan of motorcycle-riding valkyries.

Manda Benson, whose stories are often set "out of this world," has done a beautiful job of showing us our own world through the eyes of an alien, and created a number of engaging characters and fascinating settings as well. I'm looking forward to reading the book to my grandchildren.

Manda Benson's writing is vivid and humorous. Her ideas are not passe, they show imagination. If you want a read that will put a smile on your face and keep you turning the pages, read The Weatherman's Niece.