Oddity by Sarah Cannon (review)

Weird is normal in Oddity, New Mexico, where otherworldly creatures are engaged in feudal warfare and dangers lurk around every corner. The town reaches a heightened level of peculiarity when the time comes once again for Greeley's Sweepstakes, a contest where winning is promoted as the best thing ever but the victors are immediately swept off and never seen again. Most residents of Oddity, New Mexico do not know that the prize really involves waiting in a hidden cell while a living puppet from the Protection Committee feeds on the winner's soul in order to live. That, though, is what Ada Roundtree discovers when she snoops around and pulls some strings to find out what happened to her twin sister Pearl, honoree in the last sweepstakes cycle. If Ada and her friends can handle the abnormalities of their curious town, they might be able to fight the Protection Committee. Cannon places the spotlight on Ada, a tough-as-nails black girl in sleek braids and beads who shines as leader of her sneak squad. Armed with the resilience that only a child can acquire, this heroine lets nothing stand in her way, supernatural or otherwise. In a place where a misstep could mean forfeiture of identity or loss of one's life, it's refreshing to see kids willing to take the risk and reject the status quo. This blend of the absurd and the supernatural is perfect for the imaginative young reader who appreciates eerie occurrences and a little wicked puppetry but isn't quite ready for the button-eyed beldam in Coraline (BCCB 11/02). QB