(2) YA One morning, Xavier Oak and his family wake up to find that their weekend lakeside cottage has been moved, with them in it, to a farm without explanation. They eventually determine that they’re trapped within a dome and surmise that they’ve been abducted by aliens. Three years pass, and their wariness of the situation has slowly given way to acceptance. Then another family arrives, including a possible love interest for the now-sixteen-year-old Xavier as well as a volatile, reactionary government-conspiracy-theorist father whose plans for escape threaten to upset the precarious balance the Oaks have attained. Questions—some voiced by the characters, others likely to occur to readers—add to the suspense and uncertainty. Why are they there? Where are they? Who are the captors who seem willing to provide for them? Is their original home, which is experiencing an escalated climate emergency, a future version of the Earth we know? Or is there a reason the Oaks have started following the example of little Noah, born just after they arrived, and calling it “Erf”? The novel doesn’t offer many conclusive answers, but amid the slowly building tension there’s plenty of room for intriguing speculation beyond the limited perspective that Xavier’s first-person narration provides.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025

(2) YA Overthrow series. In this sequel to sci-fi/horror novel Bloom, the heroes discover that destroying the predatory alien plants taking hold of Earth was only the first step in fighting to save the human race. At the same time, Petra, Anaya, and Seth continue to learn more bizarre details about the alien DNA in their bodies. The group of friends is "detained" by government scientists who will stop at no moral boundary to study the connection these kids have to the species supposedly bent on taking over. They meet other young people in the menacing facility, begin to communicate psychically with the aliens, and rebel against their captors. With peril around every corner and plenty of raw emotion, Oppel has crafted a compelling story about what makes a person a human being. The narrative's alternating points of view give readers multiple sides of a conflict, where everybody thinks they are doing the right thing, adding friendship struggles to the already high stakes of an alien invasion.

Reviewer: Sarah Berman | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Sydney Smith. Sixth grader Ethan--the son of a famous artist--unfortunately can't draw. But then a sentient blot of ink escapes from his father's inkwell, slowly gains communicative abilities, and aids his drawing. This intriguing illustrated fantasy and unusual friendship story goes off the rails when "Inkling" disappears, having been kidnapped by his father's publisher's daughter. Still, it's a highly original concept and an entertaining page-turner.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(2) YA In the late-nineteenth-century Badlands, Samuel and his self-taught paleontologist father hope to beat out dinosaur-fossil-hunting competitor Professor Cartland of Yale and his daughter Rachel. Oppel's tale is part Western adventure--full of sabotage, double-crosses, and Indian encounters--part social commentary on the times. Oppel explains he's taken pains to accurately portray the Sioux and Pawnee characters and the white scientists' unenlightened attitudes.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Jon Klassen. Steve's baby brother is sick, so his parents don't pay attention when Steve becomes afraid of the wasps in the backyard. In a recurring dream, a voice offers to make everything better, but the easy fix starts to look like too sinister a bargain. Oppel's language is straightforward, but the emotional resonance deep. Klassen's black-and-white drawings astutely capture the magnitude of a child's imagination.

Reviewer: Sarah Berman | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2015

(2) 4-6 Will's father is driving the Boundless, the longest train ever, on her maiden voyage. After a series of adventures (involving a sasquatch and a murder), Will finds himself stranded in the caboose, where, with the help of a cute tightrope walker, he dodges a nefarious villain. The third-person present-tense narrative creates suspense as the well-drawn characters travel through an alternate-universe Canadian wilderness.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2014

(2) YA Oppel's second imagined Frankenstein origin story (This Dark Endeavor) begins after Konrad's death, as Victor mourns his twin brother's loss and rejects alchemy. Discovery of an ancient text revives Victor's hopes, and he attempts creation of a replica body for Konrad's spirit to inhabit. Oppel's impressive storytelling ability, vividly descriptive language, and further development of complex characters keep the narrative engaging.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2012

(1) YA Konrad and Victor Frankenstein, sixteen-year-old twins, live near Geneva in the late 1700s. When Konrad contracts a mysterious illness, Victor searches for answers through alchemy. Secrecy, deception, and a love triangle complicate the quest. Written from Victor's perspective and filled with his believable internal moral struggles, Oppel's novel is a gripping tale of undying devotion, mixing hope with foreboding.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2011

(2) YA Ben's father researches whether or not chimpanzees can learn language. Zan is introduced into the household, and Ben bonds with the lonely, inquisitive chimp. While subplots touch on typical adolescent concerns, the novel's lynchpin is the relationship between Ben and Zan. Oppel provocatively explores not only what separates humans from animals but also the ethics of using animals for our benefit.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2010

(2) YA Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries (Airborn, Skybreaker) join the Canadian team that plans to launch its first spacecraft. Before their departure, Kate announces she's engaged. Matt's subsequent inner turmoil is soon matched by a series of disasters that leaves the crew members battling for their lives. True to form, Matt and Kate rise to the challenges, emerging victorious in life--and love.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2009

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher. Cheerful, bespectacled dog Max is the royal food-taster. The new king, a small boy, only "picks and pokes" at his food; even reliable child-pleasers won't do, so Max helps the cook seek new recipes. The story's humor is milked to full effect in both the lively text and well-wrought art, which skillfully incorporates patterns (including scraps of recipes) counterpointing freely applied watercolors.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2009

(2) 4-6 Natural selection bumps up against social hierarchies in this bat prehistory that anticipates Silverwing. Dusk looks different from the other chiropters. Climbing trees is a struggle, but he can fly, which becomes an asset. Dusk's world is different from our own, but the social interactions are familiar. There's so much outsized prehistoric action, readers will be happily swept along for the ride.

Reviewer: Vicky Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2007

(2) YA Matt Cruse, a cabin boy on the airship Aurora, helps rescue hot air balloonist Benjamin Molloy. Later, Molloy's granddaughter Kate travels on the Aurora hoping to learn more about the strange winged mammals the balloonist wrote about in his journal. Set in an alternate Edwardian-styled past and featuring an enthusiastic narrator, this is a fast-paced fantasy-adventure.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2004

(2) 4-6 As the offspring of the bat heroes of Silverwing and Sunwing, Griffin has a lot to live up to. His first adventure, however, ends disastrously, with his best friend mortally burned. In grief, Griffin flees into a crack in the earth and is sucked into the underworld realm of the bat god of death. Challenges and narrow escapes keep readers turning the pages, as the characters forge bravely forward despite their fears and inadequacies.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2003

(2) 4-6 In this sequel to Silverwing, Shade, the young bat hero, sets off on a quest to find his missing father. As in Brian Jacques's popular Redwall series, the intertwining story lines, evil villain, and intense action will keep readers enthralled, but Shade is a more complex character than most Redwallian heroes, and his dangerous adventures make a memorable impact.

Reviewer: Anne St. John | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2000

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Terry Widener. In this stalwart and spirited tall tale, a female fishing prodigy harbors the decidedly un-p.c. ambition of catching the world's largest mammal and wants to prove once and for all that she's the "World's Best Fisherman." Widener's rounded figures look as if they might have been made by Fisher-Price, in keeping with the narrative's playful delivery and air of embellishment.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2000