In Aramanth, each family's fate is determined by points awarded in intelligence tests from the time citizens are two years old. "Better today than yesterday. Better tomorrow than today," is the motto of self-determination in Aramanth that fills the Hath family with despair. Kestrel and Bowman Hath and their parents hate the oppressive system. "Oh unhappy people," laments their mother. But the rest of the population is too busy scrambling and struggling to listen. When Kes commits an act of rebellion that endangers her family, she and thoughtful Bo escape Aramanth and journey into the unknown world. They are searching for the key to the wind singer, part of a legend dear to the Hath family. The wind singer is a strange tower of funnels and pipes in the Aramanth arena. But according to the legend, it once had a key that helped it make beautiful music and fill the city with harmony and joy. Kes and Bo are determined to get the key back from the spirit-lord. Meanwhile, their parents and little sister conduct their own acts of rebellion back in Aramanth. William Nicholson's first novel is part one of a planned trilogy. His imagined dystopia and the surrounding world are distinctive. The action is swift and often surprising, and the main characters--Kes, Bo, their family, and their schoolmate Mumpo--are wonderfully appealing. (Ages 11-14)

The first in a trilogy, this is a mesmerizing and remarkably imagined fantasynovel full of adventure, suspense, humor and warmth. An ALA Notable Book.