My original knee-jerk reaction was, “Please, no more dystopian fiction!”   But then, I realized that The One Safe Place is not young adult dystopian fiction; it is middle grade dystopian fiction and I immediately changed my tune.  While the young adult demographic is positively overrun with this type of book, in the middle grade demographic these books are few and far between.  In fact, the only ones that comes readily to mind are The City of Ember and The Giver.  Middle grade readers and writers tend to gravitate towards fantasy so that makes this book something of a rarity.

Author Tania Unsworth creates a unique concept with some interesting moral applications.  The protagonists are children so this book speaks very much to its target audience.  There is a build-up of suspense which will keep young readers guessing as to what is really going on.  Mysterious, intense, but with characters you can cheer for, The One Safe Place leaves with the reader feeling hopeful for the characters’ future, and that is just right for this age group.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  1 religious exclamation; 1 mild obscenity.

Violence/Gore:  Report of a death of family member by natural causes; non-detailed report of character being mugged/robbed; verbal threats; report of a father beating a child; scars from beatings are visible; character dives and scrapes face, mention of blood; verbal account by a character of seeing a gang of boys rob and beat another boy, who eventually dies from wounds received, mention of blood; character throws objects at others; small animal attacks a character, minor injuries; destruction of property; a character (child) has arm broken by another (adult), non-detailed.

Sex/Nudity:  Reference to a boy’s “nuts” being small.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death of a family member, child abuse (physical), orphans, poverty, hunger, child exploitation, medical/scientific ethics.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Characters are sedated.