Beware the Wild

Gr 8 Up—Every town has a place that is shrouded in strange stories, a place that everyone avoids. In Sticks, Louisiana, that place is the swamp and no one in their right mind would think of crossing the fence to enter it. But Phineas Saucier wasn't in his right mind. He had just fought with his sister, Sterling, when he jumped the fence and ran into the swamp. Sterling anxiously awaits Phin's return, but it's not Phin who emerges from the swamp hours later. Instead, a girl named Lenora May appears and somehow slips into Sterling's family, erasing and replacing Phin's very existence. Sterling is positive she isn't crazy, but no one, not even her oldest friends, seems to remember Phin. The only person who believes her is a troubled boy named Heath. The two of them band together to send Lenora May back to the dangerous place she came from and rescue her brother. The swamp, however, has power of its own and Lenora May isn't about to return willingly. This is a creepy, atmospheric book that will draw readers in. Parker has created a supernatural setting that manages to feel new and yet strangely familiar, reminiscent of Brenna Yovanoff's work. The swamp and its magic are fully developed characters just as much as Sterling, Lenora May, and Heath. Beware the Wild breathes new life into the teen supernatural genre.—Heather Webb, Worthington Libraries, OH