The Camino Club

Gr 7 Up–Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walk the Camino de Santiago each year. The path across Spain to the Cathedral de Santiago is a challenging one for the best of hikers but for a group of errant teenagers from Canada, the journey could prove to be the most difficult and most rewarding time in their lives. As an alternative punishment for minor crimes, Diego, Troy, Shania, Claire, Greg, and Manny are sentenced to complete the physical and spiritual trek, however unwilling they may be at the beginning. Craig uses the voices of Latino mama’s boy Diego, white rebellious Shania, and white, gregarious Troy in alternating chapters to weave a story of friendship, love, determination, and redemption among the cast of characters. The story introduces the Camino de Santiago to some while offering landmarks to those familiar with the pilgrimage. The format of short chapters and journal entries will appeal to reluctant readers.