Another Sweet Story About the Wild Place

The Truth About Brave is Karen Hood-Caddy’s sequel to Howl, which I read a couple weeks ago. In Howl, 12 year old Robin loses her mother, so her family moves in with her grandmother to start over. Robin, along with her grandmother, little brother and two friends, open a wildlife rescue called the Wild Place. In The Truth About Brave, Robin’s best friend has started a crusade against factory farms — and Robin has to decide if she’s bold enough to join her.

These are sweet little books, which deal with all sorts of pre-teen and teenage issues. Robin feels like the odd one out a lot in her family, as well as with her friends. There’s a subplot here dealing with an eating disorder that’s handled lightly but gracefully. Robin’s friend Zo-Zo makes a lot of really bad choices, but Robin remains the level headed one and screws up just enough to learn something new. You could certainly do worse for YA fiction. And the animals are fun, too.