Sasquatch

Children's Literature - Christopher Moning

Reading this novel felt like spending six days packing for a three-day vacation. While plowing through the preliminaries, I kept wondering, when is it going to get here? It is Sasquatch, more commonly known as Bigfoot, the mythical ape/human creature that enlivens legends of many cultures. The author has placed his Sasquatch on a raging Mt. Saint Helens volcano in the Pacific Northwest. Dylan finds himself secretly following his crazy father on a Sasquatch-hunting expedition. The good guys want to save the creature; the bad guys want to kill it. After 160 pages of preparation and formulaic plot contrivances (are we there yet?), Bigfoot finally makes an uninspiring appearance. Fans of creature features might sustain an interest that long. Most readers will not.

VOYA - Susan Allen

Yeti, Alma, Agogwe, Tok, Kung-Lu, and Kakundakari are some of the names given to Bigfoot-like creatures in countries around the world. Dylan, a young teenage boy, finds this information on the Web as he tries to understand his father's preoccupation with the creatures. Dylan's mother has just left for an archeological dig in Egypt, and he is left with his father, a man whom many consider a bit weird. Dylan's father has been helped by a Sasquatch on a recent camping trip and he is determined to keep the large creatures only a myth. Dylan and his father soon become embroiled in an effort to "harvest" a Bigfoot from the slopes of a very threatening Mt. Saint Helens. While trying to foil the plan to kill one of these creatures, the pair meet a retired government field biologist who is being watched by someone, but who and why is a mystery. Dylan's father leaves unexpectedly with a group of "harvesters," and Dylan convinces his new biologist friend to accompany him to Mt. Saint Helen's to find his dad. The prose is well written, the characters well defined, and the story gripping. Information about the, to date, mythical creatures is researched in depth in this tale that will enthrall readers whether they are mystery, adventure, or Bigfoot lovers. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Broad general YA appeal, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8 and Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9).

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8When Dylan accompanies his father to a meeting of the Bigfoot International society, he's sure that it's just another of Dad's odd hobbies. Soon after, his father joins the society's sinister leader in an expedition to hunt down a Sasquatch specimen, and Dylan decides to go along. He hooks up with an old hermit who seems to be familiar with the area and the legend. When it appears that someone is following the old man, Dylan begins to suspect that his companion may be hiding a mysterious past. In addition, evidence that the Sasquatch may be more than a legend begins to accumulate and Dylan realizes he must prevent the society from killing them. With an exciting climax set amid a Mount Saint-Helens eruption, this fast-moving, suspenseful story provides lots of action and appeal.Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL