Georgia Peach Award Nominee • Florida Teens Read Award Nominee • ABC Best Books for Young Readers • Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year • A Junior Library Guild Selection • Hugo & Locus award finalist In Other Lands is an exhilarating novel from bestselling author Sarah Rees Brennan about surviving four years in the most unusual of schools - friendship, falling in love, diplomacy, and finding your own place in the world — even if it means giving up your phone. Excerpt: The Borderlands aren’t like anywhere else. Don’t try to smuggle a phone or any other piece of technology over the wall that marks the Border — unless you enjoy a fireworks display in your backpack. (Ballpoint pens are okay.) There are elves, harpies, and — best of all as far as Elliot is concerned — mermaids. "What’s your name?" " Serene." " Serena?" Elliot asked. " Serene," said Serene. "My full name is Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle." Elliot’s mouth fell open. "That is badass." Elliot? Who’s Elliot? Elliot is thirteen years old. He’s smart and just a tiny bit obnoxious. Sometimes more than a tiny bit. When his class goes on a field trip and he can see a wall that no one else can see, he is given the chance to go to school in the Borderlands. It turns out that on the other side of the wall, classes involve a lot more weaponry and fitness training and fewer mermaids than he expected. On the other hand, there’s Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, an elven warrior who is more beautiful than anyone Elliot has ever seen, and then there’s her human friend Luke: sunny, blond, and annoyingly likeable. There are lots of interesting books. There’s even the chance Elliot might be able to change the world. Gr 8 Up—It would a bit of a misnomer to label Brennan's latest book as fantasy. Readers looking for an epic tale full of magic and the like may initially find themselves a bit disappointed. However, if they stick with protagonist Elliot Schafer until the end, they'll be duly rewarded. The story begins with Elliot at age 13 and follows the next four years of his life as a magic school student in a place called the Borderlands. With no friends in the real world, a mother who ran off when he was a baby, and a father who couldn't care less, Elliot understandably has a few issues and uses sarcasm as a coping mechanism. Nevertheless, he befriends an elven warrior named Serene and a human named Luke. They work through the roller coaster of adolescence, all while dealing with an impending war. Though magical creatures and settings appear throughout, they serve merely as a backdrop to the characters as they struggle with their friendship, ideals, identity, and sexuality. The author turns sexist lingo usually used against women on its head and instead directs it at the male characters (in one instance among many, it's mentioned that men are most desirable in their youth and are told to smile more). The feminist aspect of the novel sometimes comes off as a bit preachy. VERDICT This is a unique coming-of-age tale with strong messages about the complexities of love and life. A solid choice for YA collections.—Kimberly Castle-Alberts, Akron-Summit County Public Library, OH " In Other Lands is at once a classic school story, a coming-of-age tale and a parody of Harry Potter. It’s hilarious and sneakily moving. Elliot Schafer is Harry Potter if Harry had been abandoned instead of merely orphaned. Convinced of his unlovability, he wields sarcasm and braininess as weapons. . . . Brennan subverts the familiar Y.A. love triangle in uproarious, touching, unexpected ways, and her commentaries on gender roles, sexual identity and toxic masculinity are very witty. Elven culture, for instance, views men as the weaker sex. “A true gentleman’s heart is as sacred as a temple, and as easily crushed as a flower,” Serene informs Elliot. When another elf tells him, “I was saddened to hear Serene had launched a successful attack on the citadel of your virtue,” Elliot assures her, “The citadel was totally into surrendering.” Best of all, over four years in the otherlands, Elliot grows from a defensive, furious, grieving child into a diplomatic, kind, menschy hero.” ― New York Times Book Review “It has been a long time since I’ve loved a book this much.” ― Seanan McGuire, author of Every Heart a Doorway “Sarah Rees Brennan’s brand-new novel, In Other Lands , was first published in serial installments on the author’s blog, where the story became so popular she decided to make a book out of it. It’s easy to see why: The young adult fantasy author is known for her delightful characters, and In Other Lands ’ hero, Elliott, is a precocious, snarky wunderkind who’s whisked away to wizarding school, where he’s given his choice of becoming a warrior or a diplomat. But Elliott has his two best friends at his side ― one a matriarchal elf princess, the other a quiet jock with a secret ― and he isn’t about to play by the rules. If you enjoy stories about magical