(3) YA Translated by Wanda J. Boeke. It's been three months since Mone was conscripted, and ten-year-old Bing misses his big brother terribly. To make Mone proud, Bing begs soccer star Dani to train him. But Dani refuses--despite the dirt Bing has on him. The 1930s Belgium setting and certain backstory details are subtly conveyed, possibly eluding readers, but Moeyaert's themes and shocking conclusion are intense and haunting.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) YA Translated by Wanda Boeke. As this novel, translated from the Dutch, opens, the narrator's brother hits their mother's boyfriend with the family car; the reason--the man has been abusing him--isn't divulged until the book's second quarter. The enduringly confusing story line is unfortunate, as Moeyaert's sympathetic narrator has a clear, distinctive voice. Readers who hang in there get to know her dysfunctional family, which exists in a social and cultural vacuum.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) YA Translated by David Colmer. Fourteen-year-old Susanna's father was killed by a hunter's stray bullet seven years ago, and her mother is still ravaged by grief. In their tightly contained community, the barking of dogs ignites a village feud, and while an attractive stranger advises Susanna to leave, she longs for reconciliation within her own village. Complex and enigmatic, this is a book whose powerful themes and open ending could provoke discussion among thoughtful readers.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2000

(4) 4-6 Translated by David Colmer. In an oblique yet intense story, a boy faces his rage for the lonely farmer who might become his stepfather. Ward and his friend Bernie kill the farmer's duck; the farmer kills Ward's dog; Ward carries the dead dog under his coat while seeking retribution. The audience for this Bergmanesque tale, a prizewinner in Europe, will be limited.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton