Overview

Solo Hahn had always gotten good grades, had good friends, and gotten along with his parents. He wrote screenplays for fun. But when his parents uproot him and move the family from California to backwoods Oregon, Solo starts to lose track of the person he was. The only thing keeping him grounded is the small gray-and-white kitten he brought with him from home, until one night she gets outside and an owl hunts her for its dinner.When Solo tries to avenge the death of his kitten, he gets eight months of community service. Eight weeks of working at the local raptor center helping owls-the same creatures that killed his kitten in the first place. For the first time in his life, Solo is labeled a troubled kid, an at-risk youth. Stuck with a bad reputation and weeks of work with Sergeant Bird-Nerd, Solo has to find a way to survive the summer.

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9781634501477

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Reviews

Solo's dad walked away from a successful Hollywood career writing cartoons, traded the Corvette for a VW bus, and moved his family from their beachfront home to a trailer in Oregon, where Solo's efforts to avenge his kitten's death at the claws of an owl go horribly wrong. Sentenced to community service at a facility rehabilitating injured birds of prey, Solo plots his escape. Eric, a neighbor with Down syndrome and a passion for bugs, is a nice kid but no substitute for Solo's surfing buddies. Despite himself, Solo is drawn to the injured birds, even Artemis, a great horned owl who loves being sprayed with water from the hose. Solo's boss and a senior volunteer reach out to Solo--his parents, not so much. Moving was supposed to give Solo's dad space to write a novel drawing on his Japanese-American family's internment during World War II --except he can't write. Calamities mount. The VW bus breaks down, infuriating Solo's anxious mom. Solo's friends back home have found a replacement for him. A budding writer, Solo gains distance from stressful events by reframing and fashioning them into screenplays. There's plenty to observe--birds aren't the only creatures with wounds to tend and heal. The strong setting and well-drawn cast of complicated, evolving characters (Eric and his mother are standouts) overcome a tangle of subplots and negligible high-concept premise. A memorable read. --Kirkus Reviews A good action-adventure story compelling enough for reluctant readers. Hand to fans of books about the great outdoors and the wilderness. --School Library Journal

Solo's dad walked away from a successful Hollywood career writing cartoons, traded the Corvette for a VW bus, and moved his family from their beachfront home to a trailer in Oregon, where Solo's efforts to avenge his kitten's death at the claws of an owl go horribly wrong. Sentenced to community service at a facility rehabilitating injured birds of prey, Solo plots his escape. Eric, a neighbor with Down syndrome and a passion for bugs, is a nice kid but no substitute for Solo's surfing buddies. Despite himself, Solo is drawn to the injured birds, even Artemis, a great horned owl who loves being sprayed with water from the hose. Solo's boss and a senior volunteer reach out to Solo--his parents, not so much. Moving was supposed to give Solo's dad space to write a novel drawing on his Japanese-American family's internment during World War II --except he can't write. Calamities mount. The VW bus breaks down, infuriating Solo's anxious mom. Solo's friends back home have found a replacement for him. A budding writer, Solo gains distance from stressful events by reframing and fashioning them into screenplays. There's plenty to observe--birds aren't the only creatures with wounds to tend and heal. The strong setting and well-drawn cast of complicated, evolving characters (Eric and his mother are standouts) overcome a tangle of subplots and negligible high-concept premise. A memorable read. -Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

Melissa Hart is the nonfiction instructor for Whidbey Island's MFA Program in Creative Writing. Her articles and essays have been published by the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, Writer's Digest, and many others. Melissa currently resides in Eugene, Oregon, where she can hear western screech owls in her backyard. Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers-picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

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