Ontario, 1904. A blood-spattered, semi-feral boy staggers out of the forest, with no memory (he says) of the events that gave rise to his desperate state. He is lucky enough to stumble upon 16-year-old Emmy who, as daughter of a pioneering female doctor, is free of the small-town prejudices of the other locals. For Astor, Ontario is not the world’s most tolerant spot and inhabitants need reminding about their biblical obligation to welcome the stranger.
Stranger
This is a double coming-of-age novel and David creates a strong sense that Emmy’s and Megan’s experiences and the choices they face are part of a wider feminist destiny.
Astor’s newspaper also has a central role in the plot, with now-quaint-seeming concepts such as microfiche being introduced to the 21st-century reader and bringing touches of humour. Age 12 up.
(Usborne, £7.99).
is the story of Moe Berg, a real-life major-league baseball player of the 1930s. Carrie Jones’s picture book (Kar-Ben, £5.69) tells the story of this quietly brilliant man, who studied at Princeton and would exchange tactical remarks with his college team mates in Latin during baseball games.