This boy’s life is a little gory

This latest edition in the adventures of Brian is an exhilarating story about a boy in the backcountry. If you like partly gory wilderness books, you’ll love this one.

If you don’t already know from Paulsen’s other books, such as “Hatchet” and “Brian’s Winter,” Brian is a wilderness boy. He loves animals and nature. After Brian kills an animal to eat, he thanks it and says he’s sorry to the animal. When he meets an injured dog in this book’s story, he doesn’t hurt it. He comforts it, helps it and feeds it.

Does the dog help Brian? Will Brian solve the mystery of what happened to it? Will it have a happy ending? I’m not going to tell you. I’ll give you a clue about the end -- don’t be surprised!

-- Emily Taylor Boone,

Fourth grade,

Fremont Elementary, Glendale