Silo and the Rebel Raiders

Gr 4–6—A fast-paced adventure tale with interesting characters and lots of plot twists. The story starts with Silo, an orphan who is one of the few in his island community who can read and write. He never knew his father, and his mother was killed in a terrible accident. At 10, Silo is the town historian, but he would like to leave his home and go to the big city. He's hoping to become an important Seer, one who can predict the future as well as see the past, for the government. The boy manages to impress the government agent who comes to town, and he soon leaves his small village. Things don't go exactly as planned, though, and Silo comes to believe that the government isn't the safe haven he had envisioned. Silo would very much like to make friends, but it appears that not everyone is as trustworthy as Silo, and it comes as a surprise that some people lie to him. This is a dystopian society, but it's not obvious at first. As the plot unfolds, it becomes more apparent, in completely hilarious ways. For example, the people of this country play a game based on "the Ancients," that is, the people who came before some unnamed apocalyptic event. Their game, goat ball, uses 11 players and goats. The goats have to be chased into the goal; the winning team is the one that captures the most goats. Silo discovers that someone may have misinterpreted the Ancients' actual game, which turns out to be soccer. The novel contains some mildly objectionable language, so it would be better for the older middle grade crowd.