As with his other books, this series is aimed at young adults but handles deep topics with grace and real talk and an expectation of thoughtfulness/ability to handle “real shit”… if you know any young adults, you’ll know that’s right on. They know more than we did, they’re handling more than we were, and they’re figuring out how to do it as they go. Books that give them a great story, great writing, and straight dealing with serious topics are perfect, in my opinion. Pullman’s great. This second book (The Secret Commonwealth) in particular struck me in a few (unexpected) places. Maybe I’ll write up some notes.