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Pub date January 2, 2023
ISBN 9780888874122
Price $19.95 (CAN)Paperback
A young racoon leads his siblings to safety after a natural calamity destroys their home in Gutterdige’s fantastical latest novel. Following a catastrophic flood that sees the people of Earthwood exiled to an uninhabited island, they set off in search of a way back home. As they make their journey, Gavin, a fledgling raccoon and heir-apparent to Ra-in-waiting, guides them along with his brothers Trisbert and Cuyler. On their way there, they face multiple ordeals and dangerous encounters with a plethora of frightening creatures. Will they make it to Earthwood safely? Gutteridge sets up all manner of incredible challenges for Gavin, Trisbert, Cuyler, Adderly, Hubert, and the rest of their cohort, employing action to boost the tension to the narration that is enhanced by immaculate plotting. The clever and humorous dialogue has this fairy-tale quantity. There is an abundance of entertaining characters, such as grotesquely formed beasts, a band of giant Squeezels, wolves, and a nightmare’s worth of other beasts along with the sinister talkwalker with a gun, and a meaningful theme of solidarity. At its core, this is a story of courage, resilience, community, familial ties, and friendship. Gutteridge fills this delightfully delicious tale with heart, humor, turns, and twists, and the final twist resolves all key questions. Combined with A.T. Balsara’s black-and-white illustrations that feature blurred landscapes and naturalistic, highly rendered animals, the book makes for a stunner. Fans of Richard Adams’s Watership Down will feel right at home.
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