Karma is thirteen and she wants to be a falconer. Right now
she's her dad's unofficial apprentice, handling the raptors
in Montana. But a stray gyrfalcon Stark handled by Karma
was lost by someone in Canada who wants her back. Falcons
are expensive, and Karma's told she'll have to wait and
legally trap a red-tailed hawk for her own. But first, she
can help deliver Stark to her home.
FALCON WILD introduces an unusual family and a girl who,
while loving falconry, also wishes she was more usual. You
know, having friends and stuff. All she's got is her
nuisancy younger brother Gavin. They live in a National
Park running a Birds of Prey Education Center, meaning
they're homeschooled. So any time Karma meets someone
outside the family she can't stop talking.
The adventure suddenly takes a shocking turn. A family trip
derails just like that. Karma and Gavin have to grow up
fast. Can they cope, save their dad, and be responsible for
Stark?
This becomes a wilderness survival adventure, sprinkled
with plenty of information about birds of prey, people you
shouldn't trust, and why you can't depend on a GPS route
finder either. The most important lesson about the
wilderness is not to go out alone. My heart was in my
mouth several times as I read, and the excellent
descriptive writing sustains the imagined landscape in my
head so well that I felt I was there with Karma and her
proud falcon.
Author Terry Lynn Johnson is a member of the Outdoor
Writers of Canada and one of the Conservation Officers in
Ontario. She has won awards for her 2014 YA book ICE DOGS,
about a 14-year-old Alaskan dogsled racer, which I
am now desperate to read. If you know a young adult aged
from ten to fifteen you can probably make them your new
best friend by recommending this book FALCON WILD.
An action-packed, contemporary novel about surviving in the
wilderness.
Thirteen-year-old Karma is desperate to become a certified
falconer. At her dad's bird education center, she helps give
demonstrations to guests and can fly the birds. But when her
favorite rescued falcon, Stark, hurts Karma, her parents
insist that they return the bird to its previous owner--in
Canada. On the way to bring Stark back, a car accident in
the middle of nowhere leaves Karma's dad trapped, and it's
up to Karma to find a way to rescue him and her younger
brother. When Karma loses her way trying to get help, she
crosses paths with Cooper, a troubled teenaged boy. Lost for
three days, the two figure out how to survive, and Karma
teaches Stark to hunt like an actual bird of prey. Karma may
be closer than she thinks to becoming a real falconer and
having a real friend.
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