once it gets going, the similarities between the two stories are fascinating.

And it’s not as obvious at first, but man. There were sort of the two stories going on, with Jack and Early’s main story, then Early telling the story of Pi. (Pirates and wilderness and bears, oh my. Really steady momentum build on Early and Jack’s expedition. I will say it takes a bit to pick up, but this book does fall into the category of those that kept me up late at night reading because it was too exciting to put down. I know with all the “write diversity!” stuff, it’s becoming more common to see disabilities and stuff in fiction, but this was my first time seeing autism in a book and it was really well written and interesting to read.Įarly and his smallness and jellybean sorting and odd way of organizing his life. (Also the Captain America references made me happy.) Maine seaside and forest/military boarding school in WWII? Count me in please.

The setting and time period are extremely distinct in themselves and I just loved the feel that got captured in the story. The writing style in this book was absolutely beautiful. 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. 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.īut what they are searching for is sometimes different from what they find. 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. 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. 😛Īt 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. actually has a really complicated plot, so it’s a little hard to review in depth while avoiding spoilers? But hopefully you guys can get a good idea of it even through the vagueness, because I’d hate to spoil it for you.

Navigating early book review