Iowa Teen Award
2016 · Young Adult · Nominee
About This Book
At the end of World War II, Jack Baker, a landlocked Kansas boy, is suddenly uprooted after his mother's death and placed in a boy's boarding school in Maine. There, Jack encounters Early Auden, the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as a story and collects clippings about the sightings of a great black bear in the nearby mountains. Newcomer Jack feels lost yet can't help being drawn to Early, who won't believe what everyone accepts to be the truth about the Great Appalachian Bear, Timber Rattlesnakes, and the legendary school hero known as The Fish, who never returned from the war. When the boys find themselves unexpectedly alone at school, they embark on a quest on the Appalachian Trail in search of the great black bear. But what they are searching for is sometimes different from what they find. They will meet truly strange characters, each of whom figures into the pi story Early weaves as they travel, while discovering things they never realized about themselves and others in their lives.
Awards
William Allen White Childens Book Award
2016 · Grades 6-8 · Nominee
Young Reader's Choice Award
2016 · Intermediate/Grades 7-9 · Nominee
Georgia Children's Book Award
2015 · Children's Book (Grades 4 - 8) · Nominee
Keystone to Reading Book Award
2015 · Middle School · Nominee
Mark Twain Readers Award
2015 · Grades 4-6 · Nominee
Nene Award
2015 · Children's Fiction · Nominee
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award
2015 · Grades 4-8 · Nominee
Rhode Island Children's Book Award
2015 · Grades 3-6 · Nominee
Young Hoosier Book Award
2015 · Middle Grades · Nominee
Land of Enchantment Book Award
2014 · Young Adult · Nominee
Society of Midland Authors Award
2014 · Children's Fiction · Finalist
Texas Lone Star Reading List
2014 · Young Adult · Commended
Volunteer State Book Award
2014 · Middle School · Nominee
Michael L. Printz Award
2014 · Young Adult · Honor Book
