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Synopsis
From award-winning author Kenneth Oppel a startling, can't-wait-to-talk-about-it-with-someone novel that defies genre to create a survival thriller unlike any you've read before. For fans of Leave the World Behind, A.S. King, M.T. Anderson, and Margaret Atwood. Xavier Oaks doesn't particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad's pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it's only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only... one morning he wakes up and the house isn't where it was before. It's like it's been lifted and placed... somewhere else. When Xavier, his dad, and Nia go explore, they find they are inside a dome, trapped. And there's no one else around... Until, three years later, another family arrives. Is there any escape? Is there a reason they are stuck where they are? Different people have different answers -- and those different answers inexorably lead to tension, strife, and sacrifice. In this masterpiece, award-winning author Kenneth Oppel builds to a heart-stopping pitch in drawing a story that feels very much of our moment, where our very human choices collectively lead to humanity's eventual fate.
Is Best of All Worlds appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 14 and up.
A survival thriller with psychological tension involving a family trapped in a mysterious dome. Contains moderate conflict, family strife, and existential themes about humanity's fate, with some sacrifice and moral dilemmas.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include captivity, pregnancy, and isolation (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens will be drawn to the mystery of why this family is trapped and the mounting tension as they struggle to survive and understand their situation.