newbery honor author 

new york times bestseller

Gennifer Choldenko
Gennifer Choldenko
No Passengers Beyond This Point

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No Passengers Beyond This Point

by Gen­nifer Chold­enko
ages 10 and up
Puf­fin Books
ISBN 978–0142420522

Synopsis

Three sib­lings — India, Finn, and Mouse — have less than forty-eight hours to pack up all their belong­ings and fly, with­out Mom, to their uncle Red’s in Col­orado, after they lose their house to fore­clo­sure. But when they land, a mys­te­ri­ous dri­ver meets them at the air­port, and he’s nev­er heard of Uncle Red. Like Dorothy in Oz, they find them­selves in a place they’ve nev­er heard of, with no idea of how to get home, and time is run­ning out.

In a total depar­ture, Chold­enko tells a sto­ry of adven­ture and sur­vival, set in a fan­tas­ti­cal place with rules all its own. Sharp dia­logue and taut action make this a book that will stick with you long after you read the incred­i­ble ending.

Resources

Awards and Recognition

  • Bank Street Chil­dren’s Book Com­mit­tee 2012 Best Chil­dren’s Books of the Year
  • Black-Eyed Susan Book Award nom­i­nee for 2012–2013
  • Chica­go Pub­lic Library’s 2011 Best of the Best Read­ing List for Kids
  • Vro­man’s Book­store 3/18/2012 Best­seller List
  • Lis­ten­ing Library selection
  • Blooms­bury will pub­lish it in the Unit­ed Kingdom

Reviews

“A won­der­ful­ly imag­ined adven­ture sto­ry … rem­i­nis­cent of such clas­sics as The Won­der­ful Wiz­ard of Oz, Alice in Won­der­land and Char­lie and the Choco­late Fac­to­ry.” (BookPage.com)

“A fun ride, full of adven­ture, sus­pense, and good char­ac­ter­i­za­tion.” (School Library Jour­nal)

“Simul­ta­ne­ous­ly heart­warm­ing and spir­it­ed, No Pas­sen­gers Beyond This Point takes read­ers on an unex­pect­ed jour­ney about the impor­tance of fam­i­ly, no mat­ter what hap­pens.” (Los Ange­les Times)

“Filled with vivid descrip­tions, crack­ling dia­logue and tense cliffhang­ers, the nov­el is impos­si­ble to put down.” (ALAN’s Picks)

“Gen­nifer Chold­enko blends fan­ta­sy and real­i­ty in her thought-pro­vok­ing, mov­ing, and often humor­ous nov­el … Nar­ra­tors Bec­ca Batoe, Jessie Bern­stein, and Tara Sands are a per­fect match for the sib­lings, bring­ing each one to life … Sure to keep lis­ten­ers riv­et­ed through­out.” (School Library Jour­nal, Lis­ten­ing Library audiobook)

“Chold­enko keeps the plot mov­ing rapid­ly and con­stant­ly shifts the point of view, with each chap­ter nar­rat­ed by one of the three sib­lings, so that both read­ers and char­ac­ters feel dis­com­bob­u­lat­ed-every­thing is both con­crete yet dream­like.… No one can write a hor­mon­al teenag­er at war with her fam­i­ly like Chold­enko, but in the end the fam­i­ly rela­tion­ships and the deter­mi­na­tion each sib­ling has to pro­tect the oth­ers is what saves them all.” (The Horn Book)

“Each short chap­ter is nar­rat­ed by a dif­fer­ent sib­ling: snarky India, wor­ry­wart Finn and whim­si­cal ‘child genius’ Mouse. These con­stant shifts in per­spec­tive cre­ate sus­pense and con­tribute to the novel’s eerie, dream­like qual­i­ty. The humdinger of an end­ing helps explain this off-kil­ter world while leav­ing much to pon­der.” (The Wash­ing­ton Post)

“Chold­enko infus­es each (char­ac­ter) with a unique ten­der­ness and humor … a thought­ful but still enter­tain­ing book-club choice.” (The Bul­letin of the Cen­ter for Children’s Books)

“I know that as a child, this is a book I would have returned to over and over.” (My Com­fy Chair)

“It’s not often I read a book that I get this excit­ed about. It’s the per­fect mid­dle grade atten­tion-grab­ber for boys and girls alike.” (Fizz­Whizzing Flush­Bunker)

“This book is beyond imag­i­na­tion with a great twist at the end..” (Bet­sy’s Books)

“The sto­ry is mys­te­ri­ous and intrigu­ing, the dia­logue snap­py, and the char­ac­ters indi­vid­u­al­is­tic while still being lik­able. … the sto­ry is, in a way, a reimag­in­ing of the Wiz­ard of Oz sto­ry.” (Ms.Yingling Reads)

“This is one of those books that res­onates long after you fin­ish read­ing it. I read it a few weeks ago, and I’m STILL think­ing about it. The end­ing may send chills up your spine …” (My Brain on Books)

“No Pas­sen­gers Beyond This Point, by Gen­nifer Chold­enko, is an epic/heroic journey/fantasy tale.” (Car­ol’s Cor­ner)

“I read it with fixed, engrossed, even thought­ful and absorbed atten­tion, and I liked Chold­enko’s smooth­ly snap­py writ­ing lots …” (Charlotte’s Library)

“High-con­cept fan­ta­sy … Chold­enko’s pac­ing is sure and her use of air­port argot adds an inven­tive ele­ment to this sto­ry of unlike­ly sur­vival.” (Pub­lish­ers Week­ly)

“Great fun … This is anoth­er suc­cess sto­ry for Chold­enko.” (Bay Area Reporter)

“The author shines in her char­ac­ter­i­za­tion of chil­dren and their idio­syn­crat­ic kid­speak.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“This was a page turn­er for me; I had to read it in one sit­ting.” (Sto­ry Time Blog)

“No Pas­sen­gers Beyond This Point is sus­pense­ful, a lit­tle spooky, heart­warm­ing, and quirky, with an end­ing that is sure to get kids talk­ing.” (Shelf Elf)

“This is a mind bog­gling, fast paced, enter­tain­ing nov­el; you won’t want to put it down.” (Kar­rie’s Cor­ner)

“Chold­enko’s imag­i­na­tion flies high with this wacky and won­der­ful nov­el that pays homage to The Wiz­ard of Oz … Even if you think you can guess what’s going on here, the end­ing will still aston­ish you!” (Joanne R. Fritz, Chester Coun­ty Book & Music Com­pa­ny, West Chester, PA)

“This inven­tive, fan­tas­ti­cal nov­el is a fam­i­ly dra­ma with incred­i­ble imag­i­na­tion. Some parts remind­ed me of Char­lie and the Choco­late Fac­to­ry, oth­ers A Wrin­kle in Time, but in the end, this is a whol­ly orig­i­nal and fas­ci­nat­ing book.” (Tegan, Queen Anne Books)

“I’m putting this on my list of books that I think will appear on next year’s chil­dren’s book award lists. Kids who liked Savvy by Ingrid Law or the City of Ember books by Jeanne DuPrau might like this extra­or­di­nary fan­ta­sy adven­ture.” (Book­worm Bud­dies)