Un Lun Dun, China Mieville.  A surprisingly charming children's tale from the author of Perdido Street Station.  For a time it seemed very in vogue for adult dark fantasy and SF authors to tackle the YA section.  Mieville's entry is for younger than most, peppered with charming drawings of anthropomorphic milk cartons and torn umbrellas. 

The tale itself has rather too-obvious a moral, the lone un-hero of a girl child going up against evil bureaucracy and personified Smog, but it appealed to me unexpectedly despite the heavy handed symbolism.  It's much like The Phantom Tollbooth, and evoked a nostalgia for the old-school juveniles that could get away with this sort of thing.  Should appeal enormously to the 7s & 8s, and the young at heart.

Read May 2007