THE MEMORY PRISONER

First-time British novelist Bloor balances a darkly sinister plot with humorous touches. Imprisoned by her steel-trap memory ("once something had been caught there, it could never escape"), 15-year-old chronic overeater and "towering mountain of a girl" Maddie refuses to leave her house. She has not set foot outside for 13 years, ever since her granddad took her to visit the Pinebridge Tower Library and disappeared forever. For insight into the outside world, Maddie relies on her 12-year-old brother Kevin (and constantly refers to him as "her poor old Eyes and Ears," which quickly grows tiresome). Kevin's selection as apprentice at the Tower Library thrusts him into the genesis of her fear. But before long, Maddie makes the connection between their dotty mother's aversion to cupboards and drawers ("She used the stairs, the landing, and the floor space of all the rooms downstairs for storage") and their grandfather's disappearance, plus the web of secrets surrounding the library. The tale relies on stereotypes such as the bullies who menace Kevin, the feeble grandfather and the machinations of evil head librarian Lexeter. Still, some readers will enjoy the twists and turns of a plot resulting from the distortion of memory and a community run at the whim of one powerful villain. Ages 10-up. (June)