Raven Summer

By Almond, David C.

Publishers Summary:
A captivating new novel from Printz Award winner David Almond.Liam and his friend Max are playing in their neighborhood when the call of a bird leads them out into a field beyond their town. There, they find a baby lying alone atop a pile of stones—with a note pinned to her clothing. Mystified, Liam brings the baby home to his parents. They agree to take her in, but police searches turn up no sign of the baby’s parents. Finally they must surrender the baby to a foster family, who name her Allison. Visiting her in Northumberland, Liam meets Oliver, a foster son from Liberia who claims to be a refugee from the war there, and Crystal, a foster daughter. When Liam’s parents decide to adopt Allison, Crystal and Oliver are invited to her christening. There, Oliver tells Liam about how he will be slaughtered if he is sent back to Liberia. The next time Liam sees Crystal, it is when she and Oliver have run away from their foster homes, desperate to keep Oliver from being sent back to Liberia. In a cave where the two are hiding, Liam learns the truth behind Oliver’s dark past—and is forced to ponder what all children are capable of.

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ISBN
978-0-38573-806-4
Publisher
Delacorte Books for Young Readers


REVIEWS

School Library Journal

Reviewed on December 1, 2009

Gr 7-9 Liam lives with his father, a famous writer, and his mother, a photographer, on Britain's Northumbrian coast. One day out wandering with his friend Max, Liam is led by a raven to a baby left with a note and some money. When Liam and his parents visit the infant's foster family, Liam connects immediately with two of the foster children, Crystal, a wild-child girl, and Oliver, a refugee from Liberia. Liam's mother falls in love with the baby, and she comes to li...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Horn Book Magazine

Reviewed on November 1, 2009  |  

"The murderer in all of us is just below the skin." Almond's latest entrancingly dark tale explores the tenuous boundary between innocence and evil. Liam and his friend Max are playing outside, digging for treasure in the sun-baked soil of their rural Northumberland home, when they notice a raven that appears to be calling to them. The raven leads them to a ruined farmhouse, where they find an abandoned baby and a note that ...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Horn Book Guide

Reviewed on January 1, 2009

It's early in the Iraq War and soldiers are training in the Northumberland countryside--where young Liam finds an abandoned bab...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Junior Library Guild

Reviewed on February 1, 2010

A masterful exploration of human fragility and brutality. At the novel’s heart is the question: does everyone, given the right cond...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

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