cover image CITY OF THE BEASTS

CITY OF THE BEASTS

Isabel Allende, , trans. from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. . HarperTrophy/Rayo, $7.99 (406pp) ISBN 978-0-06-053503-2

A 15-year-old accompanies his eccentric grandmother on a writing assignment in South America to search for a legendary nine-foot-tall "Beast." PW said the "action and outcome seem cleverly crafted to deliver the moral, but many readers will find the author's formula successful with its environmentalist theme, a pinch of the grotesque and a larger dose of magic." Ages 10-up. (May)