This sweet middle-grade novel doesn’t publish until January, but I read an advance copy and loved it so much, I just have to write about it now! It’s one of the first novels I’ve read that encourages the reader to empathize with a coyote, and for that it is now one of my favorite kids’ books ever!
Gabe is a bullied kid who just wants the cool kids to like him. So he steals some firecrackers and sets them off in the woods, unintentionally creating a horrible fire. Rill is a young coyote who’s annoyed with her parents for making her care for her younger, silly, difficult-to-teach siblings. She also feels her parents are still angry with her – and she’s angry with herself – for running from a trap that ensnared another brother and sister, leaving them to die at the hands of humans. Feeling bad and worthless, she decides to leave her pack and head off on her own. But once she does so, she is consumed by the fire Gabe has set. Injured and weak, she finds a small den made by rocks and hides.
As punishment, Gabe must do community service to help repair the damaged forest. At first he can’t understand why the townspeople are so upset about a bunch of burned trees and dirt. But once he finds Rill sick and hiding in her small den, he understands and vows to help her. He brings her food everyday, and tries to devise a way to get her help before she is found by the park ranger who, due to news that a coyote had bitten a child during the fire, tells the public he will find her and put her down. Meanwhile, Rill realizes the error of her ways and only wants to find her family again. She vows never to turn her back on them again, if only they are still alive.
Can Gabe find a way to help Rill before it’s too late for her? And will Rill ever be united with her family? This is a beautiful story and it’s made all the more compelling by telling the two narratives in each character’s voice.
I just can’t wait till this is released so I can promote it and hopefully sell it in our open store!
