Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Dogs, Jim Kjelgaard, Mountain Lions, Out of Print
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When a huge mountain lion begins bringing danger to the ranchers and tourists, it’s up to Jake Kane and his young friend Johnny to catch him. With the aid of his pack of hounds, Jake sets out to bag this lion, but it’s not as easy as he thought it would be. The lion is crafty, and not prone to panic. Jake needs all the help he can get from his hounds, but even that might not be enough to succeed.
I must say, one of the plot twists is very unexpected, not to mention gloomy. In case you’re wondering, yes, even though the book is mainly about Jake and Johnny, a dog does figure prominently in it. Buck, a young hound, (one of Jake’s “Kane hounds”) plays a very important role.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Dogs, Funny, Jim Kjelgaard, Out of Print
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When Jeff Tarrant, a peddler, adopts a huge, scraggily stray dog, little does he know what he’s getting himself in for. Imagine his shock when he finds that the dog’s former owner was murdered, leaving behind a young son, Dan, who, sure that the killer is one of the Whitney family, is determined to hunt down and slay his father’s murderer. Convinced that such a young child shouldn’t be set on killing anyone, Jeff steps in to find the killer and hand him over to the law. Unfortunately, in trying to scare one of the Whitneys, Dan pretends that Jeff is a policeman, putting the Whitneys on the alert and creating a lot of danger for Jeff.
A very interesting book. At first it seemed a little slow, but there’s a real thrilling part toward the end of it. The ending is kind of abrupt, but I’ve noticed that in all the Jim Kjelgaard books I’ve read. (Of course, so far, that’s a whopping four books.) Don’t worry about your heart stopping with the dangerous and tense part. You’ll probably just sigh. “Ah!” you ask. “What sort of sigh?” There’s only one way to find out! Ask someone! (“No, wait. That wasn’t it. Oh, yes. Ahem.”) Read the book!
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Dogs, Easy Read, Insects, Jim Kjelgaard, Lizards, Out of Print
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Balulu is an Australian aborigine hunter. His tribe is suffering from a drought, and is slowly starving. Setting out with his dingo named Warrigal, Balulu searches for a better place for his tribe to live and hunt in. But, when he finally finds the perfect place, it proves to already be inhabited by another tribe, which might have hostile intentions.
There’s a lot of neat stuff in here, although, quite honestly, Balulu’s diet is rather, shall we say, different. Anyway, it’s interesting to read about how the aborigines lived and what they did. It also makes you appreciate even something like brussel sprouts! At least they aren’t sun-dried frog skins! (Although. . . I guess that point is debatable.)
Posted by Jordan
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Incredibook!, Mysteries, Review
Tags:Animals, Dogs, Funny, Good Read Aloud, Jim Kjelgaard, Out of Print
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In the Mahela forest, Ted Harkness lives with his father Al in a cabin. Everybody is after Damon and Pythias, supposedly the biggest bucks anywhere. To promote his hunting lodge, Ted’s employer Carl Thornton, asks Ted to get one of the two deer for him to hang on his wall. There’s only one catch: Carl wants Ted to hunt out of season. Ted refuses and Carl fires him. When Al finds out, he and Ted open a hunting camp for deer season. However, Ted’s on his own when Al is falsely accused of shooting a man and has to go on the run.
There’s a lot going on here. I love it when you have to follow multiple plots, and this is one of Jim Kjelgaard’s best multi-plot stories. Double Challenge has a lot of interesting parts. The characters are all very real and vivid. Well worth reading. Oh, as is usual with good books, Double Challenge is out of print. See our Book Tips Page for help finding out of print books.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Dogs, Jim Kjelgaard
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Sean, one of Big Red’s sons, is a perfect show dog, but everything in him yearns to be free and wild. An accident frees him and throws him (literally) into a northern wilderness. Forced to fend for himself, Sean relies on his instincts and wits in everything, from finding food, to avoiding the half-coyote-half-dog, Slasher.
Definitely a dog story. Complete with wanting an owner to love and be loved by. I wasn’t very thrilled, but I did read it in snatches throughout the day. Each person likes a different type of book. It does have kind of an abrupt ending. Rather disappointing since Sean gets shot. . . just kidding! Well, he does get shot at one point in the book, but (like Lassie!), it’s not much of a problem.
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