Mud has its uses — as building material, for example, or skin treatment — but it can also be extremely messy. Or worse. In Louis Sachar’s new novel, it’s definitely worse. The Newbery Medal-winning ...

Fuzzy mud is not ordinary, everyday mushy muck. This mud has yellow fuzz on top of it; nothing remains on the surface of this stuff without disintegrating. Its favorite thing to devour is dead leaves.

Sachar blends elements of mystery, suspense, and school-day life into a taut environmental cautionary tale about the insatiable hunger for energy sources and the cost of not doing the right thing.

Tamaya is on a scholarship to the prestigious Woodridge Academy and every day she and Marshall walk to school together. They never go through the woods. And when they arrive at school they stop ...