The End of the Wild Hardcover – April 11, 2017

My son (age 10) and I read this together, and we loved it. He would read ahead of our nightly chapter, and he has re-read the book a couple times on his own. The protagonist offers a modern-day Laura Ingalls figure, whom both boys and girls will find inspiring and real. It has excellent writing, nice short chapters, good laughs, strong characters, and some questions about survival, all of which make it a pleasure to read and strong school book club candidate. Contrary to one Amazon reviewer's claims, the author tells a balanced story about choices facing families and communities in rural, undeveloped lands. The author's note, which comes at the end of the book (not part of the story), perhaps lays on a heavy moral and values-based stance that may upset folks sensitive to people expressing desires related to environmental preservation.

Fern is working hard to keep her stepfather and half brothers together as a family. There is little money and stepdad is very depressed still over his wife's death. He is also drinking too much to probably avoid facing the reality of his current existence. It is up to Fern to find food for the family and try to keep child protective types from finding out the situation at home. She doesn't want to be forced to live with her grandfather. Fern turns to the woods to forage for the natural edibles. Then she discovers that a fracking company is going to be ripping out the wood as they frack. She is torn between not wanting to see the destruction of the woods and the realization that such work will give her father a much needed job. My only copmlaint about this book is that the author has swallowed all that the mainstream media says about fracking as gospel truth.

It has been a couple of months since I read this book, and I gave my copy away so some of the details are fuzzy, but I think this was beautifully written for middle grade kids. It brings up themes such as poverty, immigration, and fracking without placing judgment. A lovely coming of age story about a young girl named Fern.

This book really inspired me to go out in the woods more and explore around my cabin. The story and structure of the book is really nice and even through some animals like Ranger and made me really sad when he died.

Good book....

I did not enjoy it. For me it was to slow and not my kind of book. If you enjoy environmental reading then it could be a good book for you.

Fern, whose mother and baby brother died in an auto accident, is 11 and lives in the woods with her stepfather and two brothers. Her stepfather is out of work and suffers from PTSD and depression, partially caused by serving in the war and partially caused by his wife’s death. So it’s up to Fern to care for her brothers and to figure out how to put food on the table. Thankfully, her mother taught her about foraging in the woods and left lots of recipes, which help Fern figure out how to feed her family. But Fern’s precious woods, the woods that her mother loved, the woods where she finds much needed comfort and the woods that supply her family’s food, is being threatened by a fracking company who has arrived in her small Michigan town. Fern finds herself on the opposite side of most of her neighbors, because they welcome the new job opportunities, rather than being concerned about the damage the company might do to their environment.The descriptive language in this book vividly paints the characters and the setting throughout the book, which makes it easy to become invested in the story. I easily imagined the woods that Fern loved and her ramshackle house. I could feel the love Fern had for her little brothers, even when they were wild and refused to listen to her and the love her father had for all of the kids, even as he struggled to face the world.I greatly admired Fern’s strength, her self reliance, her compassion and her resourcefulness. She accepted the fact that the family had very little money, and found ways to feed her family. She bravely searched for ways to save her forest, even though winning might mean that her neighbors and her father lose their badly needed new jobs. And even as she faced all of these hardships, she still found happiness with her family, her best friends and her teachers.I would highly recommend this middle grade book be added to school and public libraries. It’s a great choice for those who are looking for a book about adventure, a strong girl, family or a book about the environment. End of the Wild fulfills all of these requirements!

A book I wish I had read when I was in middle-grade. Exposing children to the issues of poverty, death, and grudge can be difficult but this book approaches it very well. A thought-provoking, realistic, and enlightening read for anyone!