Little Bee

by Chris Cleave. New York: Simon & Schuster, c. 2009. 271 pages. ISBN 9781416589631 Published as The Other Hand in the UK.

Little Bee is unable to flee the terror that has chased her from her small village (sitting atop newly discovered oil deposits) to a British immigrant detention center. A horrific encounter with Little Bee on a beach in Nigeria follows tourists Sarah and Andrew O’Rourke back home to England and forces them to remember choices they have tried to forget.

Shades of Grey: The High Road to Saffron

by Jasper Fforde. New York: Viking, c. 2009. 309 pages. ISBN 9780670019632

First of a series. In Chromatacia, the Rulebook must be strictly followed. You must watch out for deadly swans and your spoon should be guarded with your life. What colors you can see decides your position in the social hierarchy of the Colortocarcy. Eddie Russett may be on his way up the social ladder if he turns out to have a high red perception. But will his curiosity in a certain defiant Grey named Jane and his interest in improving queuing get him devoured by a man-eating tree before he can marry into the Oxbloods?