First published 1991
Ben MacDonald stands barely three feet tall at age six, too small and strange for the rough frontier world of 1870s Manitoba. While his family works their homestead on Hawk's Hill, Ben finds comfort only among the wild creatures that others fear or hunt. Animals understand him in ways people never have. One summer morning, Ben follows his curiosity too far into the endless prairie grass and cannot find his way home. The vast wilderness swallows him completely. His family searches desperately, but Ben has vanished without a trace. Alone and vulnerable, the tiny boy must learn to survive in a landscape that kills grown men. He discovers an unlikely ally in a fierce female badger who has also lost her family. Together, the lost child and the wild animal form a partnership that defies nature itself. Their bond becomes Ben's lifeline as weeks turn to months and winter approaches the unforgiving prairie.
Genres: family, animals, 20th-century, adventure, coming-of-age, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Manitoba, Hawk's Hill
Period: 1870s
191 pages · Paperback · Bantam Books