No Fixed Address By Susin Nielsen Tundra, 278 pages, $21.99, ages 10-13

Felix’s single mother Astrid is an unreliable breadwinner at best, but luckily, she’s pretty good at working around the bureaucratic obstacles her peripatetic, unemployed status throws up. That way, when the two of them have to live in an ex-boyfriend’s Westfalia van for a while, Felix is still able to attend the French immersion program with his old friend Dylan — and to audition for the junior edition of the game show Who, What,

Where, When. Felix’s memory is ample and the scope of his curiosity, huge. He hopes to win the game show so he can use the cash prize to rent an apartment, but he’s figuring without the fallout of his own young age and Astrid’s checkered past. Nielsen has a penchant for young protagonists who love using their minds and are in difficult family situations. Here, she offers up what her readers have come to expect: an appealing, sympathetic protagonist; seriousness leavened with humour; and a quickly paced, engaging plot. Deirdre Baker is the author of Becca Fair and Foul