Vlad

A bounty of wordplay and surprises await the reader who dives into this clever fantasy. Un Lun Dun takes an 'Alice in Wonderland' approach to urban existence--the cast-off, discarded and obsolete come to life in this alternate (un)London. Full of exotic locales and characters, and a genuinely endearing heroine, Mieville's book is endlessly inventive fun, and even manages to convey an ecological message.

Hot on the heels of the remarkable award-winning "Arrival," Tan's delightfully weird and poignant take on suburban living firmly cements his reputation as a gifted storyteller and artist. Tan's books are for the young and old, to be revisited time after time. A new book by Shaun Tan is always a joyous occasion.

Angelica is a delightful puzzle of a book. Prismatic in nature, the narrative shifts subtly to examine what, at first glance, appears to be a haunting, but quickly reveals itself to be something more disturbing. Phillips explores genres, the social mores of Victorian London, the supernatural, and the nature of memory to produce a novel that, while set in the past, proves to be profoundly modern. --Vlad

I believe that everyone--be they adult or child--should own at least one picture book. The Arrival is that one book. In style and substance it defies simple classification: it has the narrative thread of graphic novels; the technical precision of fine art; the wonder & whimsy inherent in kid's books. But like Tan's previous books (gorgeous, surreal children's stories), there exists deeper layers of visual and emotional meaning--The Arrival warrants continual revisiting; like a stroll through your favorite park at different times of the year, you'll always find something new to spark the imagination. --Vlad