Eleven-year-old Sam's first visit to the remote west coast of Vancouver Island is nothing like she'd expected.
Her older cousins tease "the city kid" mercilessly when they're not ignoring her altogether. She often finds herself left to her own devices. Still, the woods and beaches around Brackenwood Point offer plenty of room to explore. Then, one day, Sam comes face-to-face with a wild cougar and her two cubs, and her summer vacation suddenly gets much more exciting.
September 1, 1996
Gr 4-6-Sam, a city girl from Toronto, expects to have a wonderful time when she visits family on Vancouver Island, but she is sadly disappointed. Her 14-year-old twin cousins tease her endlessly, and nickname her Gullible. She labels them The Horribles. Eventually, she decides to spend most of her time alone, watching the fawns and butterflies and rowing in the bay. As she admires the wilderness, she sees a cougar and her two kittens nearby. After her sighting, which nobody believes, she becomes caught up in learning all she can about these creatures. When she and the twins come across another cougar, she knows just how to frighten it away. The Horribles find new respect for Sam, and all three of them become interested in the fate of the large cats on the island. This adventure story is both humorous and touching. While some readers might find Sam's extreme gullibility hard to believe, her self-reliance and independent nature are qualities one can't help but admire. With short chapters and a lot of dialogue, this is a quick read for those who have an interest in the natural world-others may find the many details of the flora and fauna a bit slow.-Elisabeth Palmer Abarbanel, Los Angeles Public Library