about the book
Tony has never had anyone cook a meal for him. The teenager’s mother has always been neglectful, not making breakfast, never picking him up from school… and now she is in jail (she was training pit bulls to fight), and Tony must go to the mountains of Sierra Nevada and stay with a great uncle named Tio whom he has never met.
Gabe, a search-and-rescue dog rescued by Tio, works as a forest ranger. Gabe likes Tony from the moment he smells him, even though he could smell the fear and anger of his mother’s fighting pit bulls on Tony as well. Gabe also likes Tony because of the look of awe and wonder on his face as he takes in the beautiful mountain surroundings of his new home.
The first day there Uncle Tio makes oatmeal for Tony’s breakfast. No one had ever made food for Tony before. Then Tio goes even further and takes an interest in Tony’s life, training him to be a man of the woods and mountains. Things are looking up!
Above all, Gabe’s friendship with Tony really begins to turn his life around. But Tony can’t help but wonder, will it all last?
about the author
Margarita Engle is a poet, novelist, and a syndicated opinion columnist; she also writes short stories and nonfiction articles. She didn’t plan to be an author. Educated as a botanist and agronomist, she taught at the California State Polytechnic University. But when the missile crisis restricted travel to Cuba, Margarita turned to writing about the place she considered her second home, in an effort to regain part of what was lost to her.
Before Margarita was born, her artist father traveled to Cuba to see the city of Trinidad which had been photographed in National Geographic. There he met a woman who spoke only Spanish. He spoke only English. They communicated by drawing pictures. After they wed, they lived in Los Angeles, California, where Margarita was born and raised. They often traveled back to Cuba, and Margarita fell in love with the lush land and her extended family.
Living now in Clovis, California, with her husband, two children, and their two dogs, Margarita spends her spare time hiking with them in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The two dogs are specially trained for search and rescue. Sometimes, while her husband practices with the dogs, Margarita will hide for hours, waiting for the dogs to find her. She spends the time writing with an old-fashioned pen and paper.
Sources:
Author biography: Macmillan
Author biography: MostlyFiction
Author video interview: Colorín Colorado
Also by Margarita Engle:
Lion Island : Cuba’s Warrior of Words. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. August 2016.
Enchanted Air : Two Cultures, Two Wings : A Memoir. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2016.
Silver People : Voices from the Panama Canal. HMH Books for Young Readers. 2014.
The Wild Book. Harcourt Children’s Books. 2012.
Firefly Letters : A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba. Henry Holt. 2010.
Tropical Secrets : Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. Henry Holt & Company (BYR). 2009.
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