Gr 9 Up-In a bizarre, topsy-turvy world where children make parents, and knives rain from the sky, Scarper Lee's deathday looms before him like a ticking time bomb. The teen has resolved himself to his fateeven if his hairdryer mother and makeshift wind-powered brass sculpture father haven't quite yetwhen new girl Vera Pike arrives and throws a wrench into the status quo. When his father disappears (though he's usually chained in the shed), Scarper, Vera, and new friend Castro Smith (a boy who speaks in lucid riddles and has a knack for repairing kitchen gods) escape their daily routine to find him. During their journey, they face a field of abandoned mother creatures, a gaggle of elderly police officers, and their own mortality. In an Odyssey -like quest, the trio searches for the fabled Motherless Oven, where humans were supposedly first fashioned, and hopefully the answer to all of their prayers. Heady topics such as existentialism, destiny, religion, and love make this a quirky title rife for discussion. Davis's dark and shadow-filled art appropriately mindbends and illuminates the text. The variation in panels quickens and pulls back the pace in this enigmatic tale, with the right amount of imagery left open for interpretation. For fans of Farel Dalrymple's The Wrenchies (First Second), David Almond's novels, and teens who enjoy graphic novels that are disturbing and beautiful all at once. Shelley Diaz , School Library Journal

When Scarper's father mysteriously disappears, he and his friends Vera and Castro skip out of school to try to find him. Only . . . his father is a talking boat. And his mother is a hair dryer. It rains knives, and lions roam the school grounds. And Scarper only has three weeks until his deathday, if he can even survive long enough. Although Scarper's surreal world is upside down compared to ours, it doesn't take long for the reader to find the method in the madness and realize that our worlds are more similar than we would ever care to admit. With Orwellian authoritative overtones behind a Lynchian backdrop, Davis has created a bizarre yet familiar world that asks more questions than it answers and provides poignant commentary on a range of topics from consumerism to conformism. His stark, high-contrast black-and-white illustrations reinforce the oppressive and avant-garde tones of the overall piece. Wonderfully odd and oddly wonderful.