Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner

This another book I found through the Printz Award. I didn't know much about it when I picked it up but, as I've mentioned before, I generally trust the Printz Award.

Maggot Moon seems to be set in an alternate version of England where the Nazi's won world war II. I'm not sure about that, but it seems to be the general feel of it. In this version the Motherland rigidly controls society and schooling. "Impurities" are weeded out at a young age and Standish, the protagonist, has two impurities. The obvious one is that he has one blue eye and one brown. The less obvious impurity is that he appears the be severely dyslexic.

Life is pretty rough for Standish until he meets Hector. Hector is about as different from Standish as possible. He's handsome and has smooth manners. He does well in school and the bullies don't bother him. He and his family moved in next to Standish and his grandfather. The two families quickly become friends and band together. Hector's family has a secret though and one day the family is taken. Taken usually means dead.

Soon, Standish gets wrapped up with the secret and the Motherland's efforts to land men on the moon. Only, it's not what everyone thinks and Standish wants everyone to know.

This was a rough read. It's playing with a lot of difficult themes. Primarily though it's about sacrifice. When people have nothing, they still have something to sacrifice if the reason is important enough. I'm not sure how I feel about ending, but there is no denying that it is a powerful book.