This novel starts out annoying and ends up engaging. It took me awhile to warm up to (or learn to put up with) one character’s fondness for outdated, unlikely expressions (crazy crapdoodles, dangling dingleberries, Holy Flippers, Holy Horse Apples, Codswallops), and loser jokes. (I guess we’re supposed to think they’re so corny and outrageous they’re funny, but that didn’t work for me.) What won me over was the tension, the solid plot line, and the authenticity of a true outdoor adventure. I press my chin to the ground and watch his laser eyes gradually zeroing in on me and Ben. When he picks up the axe and starts marching toward the bank below us, I grab my hat and backpack and jump up.

What do you think you’re doing, you sneaky varmints? Get off my property!

I was especially impressed with the boys’ resourcefulness in a deep-woods emergency by stripping off their jeans and making a stretcher out of sticks pulled through the pantlegs. Weaknesses: Unfortunately, a sympathetic grandfather pops into the story at a key time, then seems to disappear altogether. (He also uses the phrase “in the family way” – something I have my doubts today’s preteens would actually understand.) Soccer is talked about way more than actually shown. I managed to guess the ending halfway through, though it’s true that kids might not. And Danny’s father seems unrealistically unfazed by learning a big family secret. Also, the hermit saves the day after no more than a moment’s thought, something that could have been drawn out for a little more authenticity.

But it’s still a great, well-paced adventure with realistic characters.

-PW