This is a fun, slightly spooky YA book. Armie is a modern teen, a bit lonely from staying at various boarding schools while his lawyer parents are busy saving the world. (They seem like caring parents who love him, but unfortunately they have important work that gets in the way of spending more time together. They also have good motivation for their work: Armie's father is Armenian and his mother is Shawnee, so they have family experience of tragedy and want to help people in the present avoid that.) Armie thinks most other kids are scared of him, which adds to his loneliness.
His current school is way up north in the woods, which has some advantages. He can go hiking alone if he wants, and spend time with the animals who have always been unusually friendly with him. Then with a fox's help he narrowly escapes a psychic pull to a dark pond deep in the woods, a pond where animal tracks go in but don't come out. He realizes that whatever is in the pond resembles some old legends he's heard, and must find out more so he can escape the pond's pull forever.
I thought Armie was an engaging character, a basically nice kid who thinks everyone sees him as mean, with a great sense of curiosity. The supporting characters were equally engaging, and the pond with its mysterious monster was wonderfully creepy.
His current school is way up north in the woods, which has some advantages. He can go hiking alone if he wants, and spend time with the animals who have always been unusually friendly with him. Then with a fox's help he narrowly escapes a psychic pull to a dark pond deep in the woods, a pond where animal tracks go in but don't come out. He realizes that whatever is in the pond resembles some old legends he's heard, and must find out more so he can escape the pond's pull forever.
I thought Armie was an engaging character, a basically nice kid who thinks everyone sees him as mean, with a great sense of curiosity. The supporting characters were equally engaging, and the pond with its mysterious monster was wonderfully creepy.
