La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One (182 JEUNESSE)

An Amazon Best Book of October 2017: Philip Pullman is that rare breed of author whose books are written for young people but are read and adored equally by adults. It’s been nearly two decades since Pullman wrote The Amber Spyglass, so it was both thrilling and terrifying (please be amazing, please be amazing…) when I first cracked open The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage and began to read. I need not have worried--The Book of Dust is Pullman at his best. Neither prequel nor sequel to His Dark Materials trilogy—Pullman calls this an “equel” and La Belle Sauvage is the first volume of a companion trio that can stand on its own. There are some familiar faces—most notably an infant Lyra Belacqua and her daemon Pantalaimon--and a particularly delightful new one: a boy named Malcolm whose kind heart, curious mind, and unerring sense of good, are the reason baby Lyra makes it to the safety of Jordan College. As in his earlier books, Pullman explores themes of religious and political freedom, the nature of good and evil, science and philosophy. The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage is a glorious adventure that delivers heart-in-your-throat moments and much to think about as we wait (not so patiently) to see what will happen next…--Seira Wilson