Fuzzy Mud

　　◎紐伯瑞文學獎金牌獎《洞》之作者風靡全球新作。
　　◎一部融合懸疑、神祕，探討生質燃料危機之校園小說，英美同步上市。
　　◎雙軌敘事手法，一條線是以一所私立學校的學生兩天時光的校園生活，採用他敘法；另一條線則是對話方式呈現美國參議院能源與環境委員會的祕密聽證會。
 
　　塔瑪亞是一所伍德私立學校裡一個守校規又聰明的五年級女生，
　　總是和大他兩歲的鄰家男孩馬修作伴上下學。
　　一天，惡霸查德揚言放學要和馬修單挑，
　　塔瑪亞抓起地上的「爛泥巴」往查德臉上一丟，
　　之後塔瑪亞的手開始起水泡流血；而查德隔天沒回家也沒去學校；連馬修都從學校偷跑出去，經學校和警方調查後，發現一切都和學校旁那片樹林中的「長毛的爛泥巴」有關……
 
　　透過校園中女孩和男孩的微妙關係、女孩與女孩間的死黨互動、男孩子間的英雄與霸凌交戰、同學間遇難的救援與掙扎，引出膽怯與勇敢；自私與關懷；親情與友誼等多重面向的成長課題；也因為能源汙染外洩，引領讀者深入探討現今社會科技文明與環境健康的失衡與毀壞。
 
國外書評
 
　　這本受到注目的小說，奠基於個性立體的故事主角，在懸疑當中一併帶出「生質燃料」的議題供人思考。──《書目雜誌》
 
　　薩奇爾融合了神祕、懸疑和學校生活的元素，以緊湊的情節塑造出關於自然環境的警戒性寓言。探討人類對能源的貪得無厭以及不做正確事的代價，以戲劇性的結局頌揚了正直和友誼的正面效應，為讀者留下可思索的題材。──《出版人週刊》
 
　　本書節奏緊湊，正如書中不斷複製增生的「潔能小子」，這部切合時下議題的小說緊抓住讀者的心，並提供豐富的思考空間。──《學校圖書館學報》
 
　　一個關於學校生活、友誼和霸凌的刺激故事，也是一本探討現代科技光明面和黑暗面的沉思錄。──《科克斯書評》
 
　　——中文書介摘錄自《爛泥怪》，小魯文化出版

From Louis Sachar, the multi-award-winning author of Holes, comes the New York Times bestseller that's been nominated for 13 state awards and counting

They got lost.
The world got scared.
And the mud got fuzzy.

Fifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodridge Academy together since elementary school. But their routine is disrupted when bully Chad Hilligas challenges Marshall to a fight.

To avoid the conflict, Marshall takes a shortcut home through the off-limits woods. Tamaya, unaware of the reason for the detour, reluctantly follows. They soon get lost. And then they find trouble. Bigger trouble than anyone could ever have imagined. What they uncover might affect the future of the world.

FUZZY MUD is an imaginative and suspenseful story of the great lengths we'll go to for friendship and family, the mishaps and breakthroughs that are made in the name of science, and the wonders of mud . . . fuzzy mud.

A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

"The children are well-realized characters and agents within their immediate social worlds . . . and] the very fate of the world is at stake." --The New York Times

"Holds as much suspense as fuel for discussion." --Booklist, Starred

LOUIS SACHAR is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Holes, which won the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Christopher Award, as well as Stanley Yelnats’ Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake; Small Steps, winner of the Schneider Family Book Award; and The Cardturner, a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Parents’ Choice Gold Award recipient, and an ALA-YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book. His books for younger readers include There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom, The Boy Who Lost His Face, Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes, and the Marvin Redpost series, among many others.