Wilder Boys (Wilder Boys #1)
by Brandon Wallace (Author)
Two brothers will need all their wilderness skills to survive when they set off into the woods of Wyoming in search of their absent father.
Jake and Taylor Wilder have been taking care of themselves for a long time. Their father abandoned the family years ago, and their mother is too busy working and running interference between the boys and her boyfriend, Bull, to spend a lot of time with them. Thirteen-year-old Jake spends most of his time reading. He pours over his father's journal, which is full of wilderness facts and survival tips. Eleven-year-old Taylor likes to be outside playing with their dog, Cody, or joking around with the other kids in the neighborhood.
But one night everything changes. The boys discover a dangerous secret that Bull is hiding. And the next day, they come home from school to find their mother unconscious in an ambulance. Knowing they are no longer safe and with nowhere else to go, the Wilder Boys head off in search of their father. They only have his old letters and journal to help them, but they have to make it.
It's a long journey from the suburbs of Pittsburgh to the wilderness of Wyoming; can the Wilder Boys find their father before Bull catches up with them?
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Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal
Gr 5-8--A fresh take on the classic theme of youngsters escaping adult strictures to strike out on their own and live off the land. Thirteen-year-old Jake Wilder and his 11-year-old brother Taylor hate and fear their mother's vicious, abusive boyfriend, Bull. Their fears are heightened when, in quick succession, they witness Bull shooting another man and their mother being taken away on a gurney after suffering a beating. The boys grab a bundle of cash Bull had hidden and set off from their home in Pennsylvania to reconnect with their father, who abandoned them years before to live off the grid in Wyoming. With their loyal dog Cody in tow, the boys hop a freight train, hitch a ride with a sympathetic trucker, stow away in the luggage compartment of a bus, and start hiking in the vicinity of the Grand Tetons, with only their father's enigmatic directions to guide them. During the course of their adventures, they rescue a rough-hewn naturalist named Skeet, who takes them in and teaches them survival skills. Though this work is chock-full of action, the style is pedestrian and the ending both abrupt and contrived. Appended is an illustrated list of "Wilderness Tips." VERDICT Despite the lackluster writing and inauthentic conclusion, this book contains enough action, adventure, and outdoor lore to appeal to middle grade fans of Wills Hobbs and Gary Paulsen.--Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT
Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.JUV001010 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure | Survival Stories
JUV032170 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Camping & Outdoor Activities
Survival
Brothers
Runaways
Wilderness areas
Runaway children
