Deadman's Castle

A family perpetually flees from a man with a lizard tattoo in this intriguing middle grade mystery. Six years prior to this book's start, Igor Watson's father "saw someone do a terrible thing"; ever since, the family has been on the run, changing towns and identities, and reporting to a witness protection agency, the Protectors, each time an ambiguous character known only as the Lizard Man tracks them down. Now 12, Igor--his most recent alias--persuades his parents that he should attend school. Slowly settling in, making friends, and experiencing bullying, Igor realizes just how restrictive his family's rules are: always be home before dark, keep the curtains closed, lie about the family's background. As Igor's cover story starts to slip and he feels an odd sense of familiarity in his "new" town, he must decide just how far to trust his friends, even as he questions his father's stability and the Lizard Man's very existence. Against a suspenseful backdrop, Lawrence (The Skeleton Tree) pits Igor's longing for normalcy against the precautions he takes to keep his family safe, creating a rapidly moving story with an interesting emotional arc. Ages 9-12. Agent: Jane Jordan Browne, Browne & Miller Literary. (Mar.)

Gr 3-7--Igor and his family have been running for as long as he can remember, ever since his father witnessed a crime. But now he is 12, and this time he gets to choose his new name while his father chooses his boundaries, where he can go alone, and mostly where he cannot. Breaking those boundaries was how Igor came to discover Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School and his absolute desire to be there. He has never had friends or any idea what a normal life could be until he insists on going to school. His first friends ever Zoe (an edgy goth girl who changes her identity yearly by choice) and Angelo (an Italian American former class bully) push him to start a new adventure without fear of the past and fear of the Lizard Man, who threatened his family all those years ago. Just as Igor begins to ask questions, the Lizard Man reappears. Featuring effective worldbuilding, this is a great, suspenseful tale of terror for upper middle graders. The hurried ending is the novel's only flaw. VERDICT A solid addition to middle school collections.--Sarah Voels, Cedar Rapids P.L., IA