Book Review

REFUGEE

              Three different kids. One mission in common: ESCAPE. Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world… Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America… Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe… All three young people will go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers–from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But for each of them, there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, surprising connections will tie their stories together in the end.

   BOOK TITLE - THE TRAIL

                                                  AUTHOR   -  MEIKA HASHIMOTO

Meika Hashimoto spins a nonstop extreme adventure in her coming-of-age novel.

Twelve-year-old Toby is hiking the Appalachian Trail, and he’s determined to complete his journey from Velvet Rocks to Katahdin alone—a promise he made to his best friend, Lucas, who is not so adventurous as Toby. But along his trek from New Hampshire to Maine, Toby finds himself among others instead of keeping to his solo mission, especially when a mangy old dog, Moose, shows up after Toby is rescued during a violent storm. Toby has no idea that his rescuers—two older teen hikers named Denver and Sean—will play critical roles in his life, and the last thing he expects on the trail is for Moose’s owner to show up.

Toby is not only riddled with internal struggles but also pushes himself to a near-impossible quest. Hashimoto surrounds her cast with wild animals as well as the mercurial yet hazardous weather conditions that are characteristic of the northern sector of the Appalachian Trail. While readers don’t have to be familiar with this aspect of the trail, it certainly helps and will only prove to enhance Toby’s many great outdoor encounters.

The Trail is perfect for extreme adventure enthusiasts.