View on Biblioguides
Last year, I read and reviewed the first book set in Jon Tilton’s Lands of Luxury world. It was refreshing in its hopeful and virtuous worldview, and I deeply appreciated the substance—so often lacking in contemporary children’s literature. Though the setting was slightly futuristic or utopian, the story of three orphaned children living on a trash island made for an interesting and creative story. You can read that review here.
After reading that first installment, Diane and I invited some of my library interns to help us interview Jon for the Plumfield Moms podcast. That conversation only affirmed and deepened our sense of who he is as an author and his care for the hearts and minds of young readers. So when the Kickstarter for this second book launched, I was genuinely excited to see where the story would go next. You can listen to that podcast here.
In the first book, we meet Jane, Rodney, and Timothy—three close friends surviving on an island made of trash. One day, Jane finds a beautiful doll with a tag that reads, “Please return,” along with the owner’s name and address. Jane, deeply moved by the thought of a little girl missing her beloved doll, sets out to return it. That simple but profound act of compassion sets off a chain of events that leads Jane into the care of a couple who genuinely want to adopt her.
While adoption is a gentle current beneath the first story, in Welcome to the Lands of Luxury it becomes the main force driving the entire story. When the book opens, all of the trash island children—except Rodney—have been adopted into loving homes. Rodney has not only been overlooked, but he’s never even had an interview. He assumes this is because of the prominent scar on his face, which he received while protecting his friends in the first book. Now, plagued by shame and loneliness, Rodney becomes vulnerable to the manipulations of Mr. Ottenfox, a scheming celebrity who seeks to exploit the children’s pasts for a television series.
Rodney is offered what seems like an incredible opportunity, and desperate for help removing his scar, he accepts. When Mr. Ottenfox extends a similar too-good-to-be-true offer to Jane’s family, Jane’s father, Mark, approaches Mr. Ottenfox’s offer with a great deal of caution. As the story unfolds, Rodney is drawn into compromise. His shame and insecurity lead him deeper and deeper into compliance with evil. While Jane, on the other hand, is guided and supported by caring and competent adoptive parents. Mark, ever present and worthy, helps Jane to be true to her innate sense of generosity, hope, and courage.
This story, like the first, ends with hope. The children encounter peril, but good comes of it. Tilton treats the adoption theme with an authenticity that honors both the challenges and blessings involved. Each child’s experience is unique—Jane is adopted by a childless couple, Timothy joins a family with a brother, and Rodney is left in uncertainty. Their transition from the island of trash to the polished “Lands of Luxury” is filled with questions, misunderstandings, and emotional learning. Though I don’t have personal experience with adoption, the story reads as deeply informed and sincere.
I would recommend Welcome to the Lands of Luxury to middle grade readers who are drawn to stories of heroic struggle—of doing the right thing in the face of difficult odds. It’s the kind of book that stays with you, not because of flash or cleverness, but because it speaks to the heart of what it means to love, to belong, and to choose goodness.