Ferals

Gr 5–8—Ever since he was five years old, Caw has lived with his crows in the safety of the nest they made in an abandoned park. He lives off of what food he can scavenge from trash cans and restaurants. After Caw saves the local prison warden from an attack by escaped criminals, the two strike up an unlikely friendship. When a kindly librarian is found murdered, the two discover that their town holds a sinister secret. Caw finds out that he is a "feral"—someone who can speak to animals. There are others like him, though some of them are not good. Caw discovers that a feral was responsible for the death of his parents; it is up to him and a ragtag group of reluctant ferals to save their town from destruction. While the story is interesting and will certainly appeal to tweens, the plot has several glaring holes. There is the obvious question of how Caw was able to survive for eight years on his own without anyone noticing him. The protagonist also shows a surprising aptitude for summoning his crows after an extremely short training period. Character development is poor and the action slow to start.