When Angels Rest

Fans of Harington's (Butterfly Weed) fictional town of Stay More, Ark., will appreciate the latest escapades set in this quirky, backwater locale during WWII, where games of Allies and Axis warfare have replaced cowboys and Indians. In a place that distinguishes between only two social classes, ""the poor, and the dirt poor,"" the town's young people fill their free time with battles, plots and counterplots as they watch Stay More's young men leave town for the real things. Twelve-year-old Dawny, inveterate observer and voyeur, writes up local events in his own weekly newspaper, the Stay Morning Star, while making frequent asides to his audience, ""Gentle Reader,"" and offering amusing observations about the legendary antics of the Dinsmores, Dingletoons, Ingledews and Coes. The author's wit comes to the fore when an army detail lands in Stay More for Pacific theater training and the real war games escalate. Seen through Dawny, this is a poignant coming-of-age tale, not only for him and the town's young people but also for a nation whose innocence is sorely tested by the loss of a president and the harrowing events overseas that bring death close to home. Harington maintains the breezy originality that makes his 10th book a welcome addition to this talented writer's work. (Sept.)