LIGHTLAND

This debut novel set in Iowa relies on a tried-and-true plot device, the magic portal, but McCutchen weaves in memorable protagonists, a mysterious villain and plenty of humor to introduce fantasy fans to a new land to which they will long to return. "Lottie Cook's mother died the same minute that Lottie was born" and Lottie's best friend, Lewis Weaver, utters his first word when he is three years old—around the time his scientist father disappears. When Lewis does talk, it is only to Lottie, who loves remembering everything she can, including "the flat tinny taste of powdered baby formula." Both of them hate school, until sixth grade, when their new teacher seems to read their thoughts. When these best friends turn 11, first Lottie and, later, Lewis are transported to LightLand through a cherry-wood StoryBox made by Lottie's father. In this beautiful otherworld, created by the memories of real humans, the NightKing prowls, looking for sleepers whose memories he captures, stripping them of their sense of a past ("To forget is to be forgotten. And in LightLand, to be forgotten is to disappear"). When one of the friends has problems returning, the other has to attempt a marvelous and memorable rescue. McCutchen invests the adults in Lottie and Lewis's world with pasts that serve an important link to LightLand. A couple of seeds are planted for what readers can only hope will be a return trip. Ages 9-14. (Nov.)