Dust Reviewed By Habin Choi

Dust is a science fiction novel written by Arthur Slade, a successful Canadian author. It is about a twelve-year-old boy named Robert Steelgate, trying to find his missing brother Matthew Steelgate. It takes place in Saskatchewan in a humid little town called “Horshoe.” The townspeople were forgetting the disappearance of Matthew after the arrival of a mysterious and strange character named Abram Harsich. Abram announces that that he is going to build a rainmill to bring prosperity back to the drought-ravaged community. Robert then becomes suspicious of Abram. Is he actually saying the truth? Does he have to do with the disappearance of Matthew?

The main theme in this novel is Family. Family is the most important in this novel because it represented love between Robert and Matthew. Robert didn’t want to give up looking for his missing brother Matthew. Robert wanted to bring the whole family back again. Robert didn’t rely on his brain but relied in his heart. Lepidopterists represents the souls of children that Abram stole and the bond between the brothers. After Matthews disappearance, other kids like Mike Tuppence, and Susan Vaganski went missing. After Abram Harsich came, Roberts mother and father forgot the event of the disappearance of Matthew. Harsich was reopening the theatre to present a mirror that allowed a person to picture the things that are going on their head. Then, Robert saw Uncle Edmund. Robert was told “evil” from Edmund. Not only that, uncle Edmond pointed directly at Abram. They were falling into Abrams spell. They thought that Abram was the one to bring rain to their humid town. Robert though, he wasn’t. But he had some issues of his own.  

Arthur Slade (author) did a terrific job in the central idea. He had delivered the message of how family comes first and that it is the key thing that brought us to this world. The message that Arthur Slade is trying to deliver to the reader is that people should always help each other so that we can get a better future. He makes us picture the story that is happening.

Dust was sensational. What I mean by that is this book catches interest of every reader whether you are a non fiction reader or you’re a young child. I was definitely caught interest with this book.