Navigating Early

After the death of his mother, Jack's military father who's been off fighting WWII for years moves his son to a boarding school in Maine.  Jack misses Kansas and all the people he knows and loves.  He hasn't seen his father since he was a little kid, and he is still grieving over his mother's death.

Despite all this, Jack tries to fit in at his new school.  Everything seems pretty normal except for one kid named Early who is small and strange and rarely goes to class.  After a few chance encounters, Jack reluctantly befriends this odd boy who lives in the basement and abandons classes when he disagrees with the teacher.

In math class, their new teacher tells them about the amazing pi and how a professor at Harvard thinks the number will soon end.  Early becomes distraught and leaves class.  This is when Jack discovers Early can read numbers like a story, and the tale of Pi the adventurer begins to unfold.

Abandoned by his father over Thanksgiving break, Jack decides to join Early in quest along the Appalachian trail to find a great black bear that has been terrorizing hunters and campers.  As there journey progresses, they encounter people and events that strangely mirror Pi's tale.

Clare Vanderpool's new book is a fabulous tale of adventure and survival, but it is so much more.  It's a story about faith, myth, and forgiveness.  I feel like nothing I could say here would do the book justice.  It's just wonderful!  Read it!