Children of Exile (Children of Exile #1)

Grades 5-8. Rosi, 12, has lived all her life in sheltered Fredtown, a community of adults who took in refugee children to raise them in a safe environment. Her adoptive parents have lovingly raised Rosi and her little brother, Bobo, but always made it clear that one day they—and all the children in Fredtown—would be returned to their real parents. When the day comes, initial excitement soon turns to disappointment and fear as the children of Fredtown meet their real parents, who are physically and emotionally scarred and have no idea how to relate to the children they have not seen since birth. In Fredtown, appearances were unimportant, but here eye color seems to provoke prejudice. What happened back home while the Freds were raising other people’s children? Why isn’t it safe to go out after dark? With her trademark clarity, sympathetic and dimensional characters, and effective chapter hooks, Haddix’s latest series starter once again raises questions with real content and impact. Are there other worlds? And if so, would they care enough about ours to save us? HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Haddix knows how to sell a series, and this new one is being bolstered by an author tour and major education and library outreach.

Copyright 2016 Booklist, LLC Used with permission.

Rosi’s life falls from idyllic to devastating when she and her friends are returned to their biological parents.In Fredtown, everyone lives by utopian principles of good citizenship, such as, “You use your words and your wits and you settle disputes peaceably.” Twelve-year-old Rosi, her little brother, Bobo, and the dozens of other Fredtown children all know that the Fred-parents are not their real parents—and that it’s too dangerous to go home. Life is almost perfect, until the day the entire population of children is put on a plane, leaving the Fred-parents to live with their own. Their hometown, achingly poor, falling apart, and crime-ridden, is the terrifying opposite of clean and tidy Fredtown. In a setup bound to stir feelings in adopted readers, Rosi and Bobo’s birth parents are mean; the father is blind and maimed, the mother’s face is a ruin of sadness and rage. When Rosi is beaten by a crowd of adults in the outdoor market, it becomes clear that both the biological parents and the Fred-parents are harboring terrible secrets that are somehow connected to eye color: Rosi’s and their birth mother’s are green, while Bobo’s and their birth father’s are brown. This chiller is locked-in riveting, written in the voice of the brave but naïve Rosi. Using the arbitrary distinction between eye colors, Haddix brilliantly scrutinizes racial violence without mentioning physical characteristics beyond eyes and nose. This conversation-starting first in a series is a penetrating science-fiction thriller that adroitly explores the issue of prejudice. (Science fiction. 11-14)

Copyright 2016 Kirkus Reviews, LLC Used with permission.

Gr 4-8--Twelve-year old Rosi has spent her entire life away from her parents. She, her brother, and the other children from her hometown were brought to Fredtown as infants to be kept safe from danger. This small, structured, and simple community named after the Norwegian word for peace is the only environment the children have ever known. When the Fred-parents abruptly inform the children they will be returning home, questions flood Rosi's mind but are left unanswered. The children are forced onto an airplane heading to a place that feels foreign, where they are greeted by biological parents who are strangers to them. At first, Rosi is desperate to return to Fredtown. Then she begins to uncover mysteries and question what she's been told all along. Haddix brilliantly sets up her story, giving readers just enough information to keep them grounded while elevating tension through Rosi's uncertainty. Fast-paced action, plot twists, and cliff-hanger chapter endings will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Haddix's tone and language and the absence of graphic violence make this an ideal selection for younger readers eager for a dystopian novel. VERDICT Fans of Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember and Haddix's own "Shadow Children" series will want to be first in line for this book.--Beth Parmer, New Albany Elementary Library, OH

In this trilogy opener, Rosi and her younger brother, Bobo, are two of many children raised by Fred-mamas and Fred-daddies in Fredtown, a place of equality and harmony. After an agreement is struck, the children are forced to return home to their actual parents. At 12, Rosi is one of the oldest children, charged with protecting the others, including her estranged friend Edwy, who believes the Freds are just as fake as the Enforcers who take them away. When the children reach their real home, Rosi finds life unbearable under cruel parents and extreme poverty, despite the help of a missionary. When Edwy and Rosi work together to determine what happened to the charred buildings and maimed citizens of their new town, they discover severe inequality and a bias against their bright green eyes. Much as in Under Their Skin (2015), Haddix seems to be telling one story before pivoting sharply amid major revelations that shake up everything Rosi knows. Though the messaging isn't subtle, Haddix gives readers lots to mull over regarding conflict, justice, and prejudice. Ages 10-up. Agent: Tracey Adams, Adams Literary. (Sept.)