When Bones Malone and his family move to the town of Langille, the transition is anything but smooth. He's the new kid on the baseball team with a strong arm but no control. He's one of the only Black kids in town, and he knows that his race affects how others treat him. Bones's teammate Kyle Specks (who is white) has lived in Langille his entire life, but he still feels like an outcast. Kyle always says the wrong thing and can't figure out social situations. The two outsiders join forces when they notice Langille's adults acting weirdly and suspect their strange behavior has something to do with the new tech company in town. Together, Bones and Kyle must stop the shady corporation before their own worst nightmares come true. Blending mystery, horror, and science fiction to explore concepts of fear, belonging, and forgiveness, this is highly accomplished middle-grade speculative fiction, perfect for readers who enjoy darker, layered books such as Ness's A Monster Calls (rev. 9/11). S. R. Toliver July/August 2022 p.128(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 5 Up--Twelve-year-old Bones Malone and his family move to Langille, a quiet Canadian town, for a fresh start after facing domestic issues in their old town. Coping with being one of the only Black kids there, Bones finds a place for himself on the baseball team. When Langille announces free Wi-Fi for the entire community, people around town quickly begin to transition into a zombielike state. After Bones's mom is infected, he teams up with Kyle, the baseball team's homeschooled genius, to get to the bottom of the Wi-Fi's effect on the community. Lucas crafts an enjoyable science fiction mystery with characters who travel into different dream dimensions based on their greatest fears. Bones struggles to control his temper while Kyle desires to understand his neurodivergent brain, and the dream-traveling allows the friends to take a walk in each other's footsteps. As the team works together to conquer the evil forces controlling the town, they learn the value of community and friendship. While this text offers a light, humorous tone, some scenes are juxtaposed with heavier content, including descriptions of the parental abuse that shapes Bones's fears. VERDICT Perfect for fans of Stranger Things, this science fiction novel should be on school and public library shelves.--Angie Jameson

Two boys and their friends face off against a shady corporation that threatens to overtake their small town. Bones Malone, a fiercely protective and daring 12-year-old with a Black mom and absent White father, is new to the mostly White town of Langille, Nova Scotia. Kyle Specks, a wickedly smart White 13-year-old, has always had a hard time fitting in; he suspects he's neurodivergent. The two boys' paths cross through their passion for baseball. Each notices mysterious changes in the town's adults' behavior, and after saving a missing scientist from drowning, they develop suspicions about a dastardly plot. It's no coincidence that Fluxcor, a virtual reality tech company, has established an increased presence in Langille. The boys enlist the help of teammates Marcus Robeson (son of their coach, a retired Black professional baseball player) and Chinese Canadian Albert Chen to shut down Fluxcor and its evil CEO. Throughout their adventures they each have to face their worst nightmares, but they find strength in knowing they don't need to shoulder their burdens alone. Through thoughtful and gripping omniscient narration, the author seamlessly weaves in clue after clue, leaving readers eager to reach this mystery's heart-pounding end. Bones and Kyle are well-rounded, engaging protagonists; the author uses the concept of fear and how we handle it to give depth to secondary characters. A thrilling journey about acceptance and facing your deepest fears. (Mystery. 10-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In a tale that's part creep show, part mystery thriller, and part about the healing powers of friendship and baseball (whew!), a small Canadian town falls victim to the literally nightmarish experiments of a virtual reality company's evil CEO. Lucas does a good job juggling all these elements as he tracks 12-year-old Quentin "Bones" Malone, newly arrived and saddled with control issues that stem from his white father's abuse as well as the predictable tensions associated with belonging to only the second Black family in town. Bones forms an alliance with autistic outfielder Kyle and other teammates to discover why they are suddenly sharing each other's lurid, frightening dreams, as well as to discover what is sparking scary behavioral changes in their parents and other adults. The author caps his suspenseful climax with a forcibly tidy resolution, but along with some baseball action and a premise based on plausible (if vaguely described) technology, he delivers memorable portraits of two strong-minded young characters probing each other's needs and boundaries on the way to creating firm bonds.