Shortlisted for the Ontario Library Association’s Red Maple Award, The Other Place is Monica Hughes’ latest young adult hit, a futuristic tale with a political edge. All of the trademark elements that make Hughes’ books so successful are here—intelligent and fast-paced plotting, subjects that resonate with today’s kids, believable characters who come to rely on the power of their hearts and minds and, most important, a terrific story that grabs readers right from the first paragraph.

The Other Place is set in a not-too-distant future world, one in which pre-teen Alison and her family have just been charged with crimes of subversion against the all-powerful World Government. Banished to a penal colony in the anonymous Habitat W, they join the shadowy ranks of the “disappeareds.” When Alison’s brother Billy escapes from their prison, Alison begins to discover “the other place”—and a new hope for the future.

A prolific author (her newest book, Storm Warning, will be published in September 2000; please see opposite), Monica Hughes has kids lined up and waiting for each new book. The Other Place doesn’t disappoint.