Dust

Slade, Arthur

ISBN 10: 0385900937 ISBN 13: 9780385900935

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books, 2003

Synopsis

SEVEN-YEAR-OLD MATTHEW DISAPPEARS one day on a walk into Horshoe, a dust bowl farm town in Depression-era Saskatchewan. Other children go missing just as a strange man named Abram Harsich appears in town. He dazzles the townspeople with the promises of a rainmaking machine. Only Matthew’s older brother Robert seems to be able to resist Abram’s spell, and to discover what happened to Matthew and the others.

“A remarkably effective sense of atmosphere.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred

“Choose it for science-fiction fans who are ready for something a little different.”—School Library Journal, Starred

“Beautifully written novel . . . strong character development, an authentic setting, and some genuinely spooky moments.”—VOYA, Starred

A Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature

An ALA Best Books for Young Adults


From the Hardcover edition.

About this title

About the Author

Arthur Slade is the author of five novels for young adults. Dust is his second novel to appear in the U.S. The author lives in Saskatoon, Canada.


From the Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

“Sparklingly original . . . heartbreakingly beautiful . . . a climax that almost takes one’s breath away.”
–The Globe and Mail



From the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

Seven-year-old Matthew disappears one day on a walk into Horshoe, a dust bowl farm town in Depression-era Saskatchewan. Robert, his older brother, is determined to find Matthew, even when the grownups seem to give up. Other children go missing just as a strange man named Abram Harsich appears in town. He dazzles the townspeople, long plagued by the effects of drought, with magic mirrors and the promises of a rainmaking machine. Only Robert seems to be able to resist Abram, and to discover what happened to Matthew.


From the Hardcover edition.

Reviews

Grade 6-9-In a bone-dry summer during the Great Depression, Matthew, seven, disappears from a small prairie community in Saskatchewan. Soon afterward, Abram Harsich comes to town, and before long nearly everyone has fallen under his mesmerizing spell. He claims to be a meteorologist and enlists local men to help him build a "rainmill" that will bring an end to the crippling drought. Only Matthew's brother Robert, 11, who has visions of his dead Uncle Edmund trying to warn him of something, and bookish Uncle Alden remain skeptical and apart. In time, memories of Matthew fade; then other children disappear. Only Robert really remembers his brother and alone he pieces together what has become of the missing children. Suspense builds to a searing and satisfying climax involving malevolent "traders" from the stars. As odd as this may sound, it is a logical conclusion to a story filled with mystery. The plot is strewn with foreshadowing, portents of evil, and foreboding. In Robert's mind, imagery invoking the desert, ancient Egypt, and the Bible abounds, and the spare prose is poetic in its evocations of both the 20th-century setting and the ancient world. Robert is a strong, stalwart character who loves words and stories, and has some understanding of the universe as mysterious. This unusual, well-written story will definitely exercise readers' imaginations. Choose it for science-fiction fans who are ready for something a little different.
Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385900937
• ISBN 13: 9780385900935
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 192