Falcon Wild Paperback – January 1, 2017

Thirteen year-old Karma is helping her father with a demonstration of how amazingly well trained these birds are at their family’s Bird-of-Prey Education Center in Montana. Her gyrfalcon, Stark, is at her side. Her father has Gremlin, a peregrine falcon, perched on his fist and he’s talking to the crowd. She’s a bit nervous since this will be Stark’s first school demonstration with her, but she tries to slow her breathing down, maintain a sense of calm.After the demonstration, Karma learns that the true owner of Stark wants him returned. She’s found Stark on the side of the road, emaciated, and brought her to her Aunt Amy who rehabilitates birds. Karma fed her using an eyedropper every few hours until she was stronger, strong enough to eat without Karma’s help. Karma is devastated, of course, all those hours of promises she’s made to Stark, if only she would get better. Now she can’t imagine leaving her, but this is not her decision.On their way to deliver Stark, with her father driving and her nine year-old brother, Gavin, their van blows a tire, and the van flips and ends up in a ditch on the roadside, Stark escapes in the ensuing confusion. Her father is trapped and has Karma leave to go get help, telling her the direction to follow to get to the highway. Gavin stays to help out their father as much as he can, as he’s unable to move.There’s much that follows, one big adventure that really is more like a series of adventures, but not a fun one. An adventure that involves a somewhat unpredictable teenage boy, and several hair-raising events. They wander about in the wilderness, facing one challenge after another, trying to find their way to the highway, to get help. There are a few twists and turns that were unexpected, but not necessarily unrealistic. I loved the characters, especially Karma, but then this is really Karma’s story.While this is marketed as Children’s Fiction / Middle Grade, Ages 10 and up, I think it might have a broader appeal than that, depending upon your child’s reading level, and interests. I was particularly interested in this for two in this age group and I think they both would enjoy this. I think the idea of falconry would appeal to both, but being nature lovers, I would expect that.This is the first book by Terry Lynn Johnson that I’ve read, but I enjoyed it thoroughly, so I wanted to look up her other books. It turns out that Ms. Johnson has had an interest in falconry since she was a ten year-old herself, which shows in the little pieces of information she feeds you throughout about falcons and falconry. She is the author of “Ice Dogs” as well as a second upcoming novel in October 2017, “Sled Dog School,” as well as the upcoming “Survivor Diaries Series.”Of Note: “Falcon Wild” was chosen as a Junior Library Guild Selection for Fall 2017Recommended – Ages 10+Many thanks for the ARC provided by Charlesbridge

Thank you @kidlitexchange for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.Thirteen year old Karma is dreaming of becoming an apprentice falconer. She has developed a bond with one of the training falcons named Stark. Unfortunately, Stark’s owners have been found and request that the family returns him. During the trip, their van gets into a terrible accident leaving the dad pinned behind the steering wheel. Karma sets out to get help. Along the way she encounters a troubled runaway boy and the two face numerous challenges while being lost in the Montana wilderness.Wow. Talk about a wonderful main character. I absolutely loved Karma!!! She is unique, intelligent and a constant jabberer who made me smile numerous times. I love the fact that her and her brother are homeschooled and that it’s mentioned several times throughout the book. The way they were raised and their father’s influence of outdoor classrooms ended up benefiting their survival skills. The family lives at a bird education center and are falconers which was incredibly fascinating. I knew very little about this topic and was intrigued when those facts were included.The adventure part of this story was fantastic. The chapters are short, but definitely left you with a cliffhanger and eagerness to continue the story. Karma and Cooper face all sorts of challenges and obstacles: dangerous terrains, intense hunger, threats from wildlife and rough weather conditions. Each were believable and offered a bit of thrilling tension.Overall, this was a fascinating middle grade book. It’s full of wonderful characters, great info and tons of adventure! I love how everyone learns some valuable lessons along the way.

This book was full of adventure, it is similar to the well known book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I enjoyed the book a lot and would definitely recommend it to others.

I received this book from #kidlitexchange to read in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Karma is a 13 year old girl who is raised and homeschooled and lives at The Birds of Prey Education Center with her mother, father and younger brother. She is excited that after this year she will go to a public high school. She is training a falcon named Stark; her family has found, and her father and her aunt found the bird's owner and Karma is forced to take a family road trip to return the falcon home. After a terrible car accident it is up to Karma to endure the wilderness to find help for her father and brother who are trapped in the van. After one day, Karma discovers the GPS is wrong about the highway being close. She falls into a hole and an unlikely friend comes to the rescue. She continues to battle an infection in her arm, the weather, and the mountainous terrain to reach help for her family. Her only hope for safety lies in her love for the falcon, Stark, and the unlikely friend, she doesn't really trust, Cooper. After 3 days Karma finds she's been walking in a circle and ended up right back where she started at the wrecked van. She will have to trust Cooper to get help. Johnson writes in vivid detail of all the birds of prey described and even more detail of the nature walks in this middle grade read. Fantastically written.

Amazing book... I loved it, kids loved it!