The Big Wander

A Summer To Remember

Fourteen-year-old Clay Lancaster has been dreaming for years of the adventure he calls The Big Wander — a summer in the Southwest with his older brother, Mike, searching for their uncle Clay. When Mike decides to return home to Seattle and the girlfriend he left behind, Clay chooses to stay on and continue the search on his own.

Following a tip about his uncle, he heads out into the most remote canyons of the Navajo reservation, with only a burro and a dog named Curly for company. Clay loses his heart to the vast, rugged land — and to an adventurous girl with a long, dark braid — but finds his uncle in big trouble. Can Clay pull off a risky plan to save his uncle — and the wild horses Uncle Clay has put his own life in jeopardy to protect?

As he searches for his uncle through the rugged Southwest canyon country, fourteen-year-old Clay becomes involved with a group of Navajo Indians who are trying to save some of the last wild mustangs.

A Summer To Remember

Fourteen-year-old Clay Lancaster has been dreaming for years of the adventure he calls The Big Wander — a summer in the Southwest with his older brother, Mike, searching for their uncle Clay. When Mike decides to return home to Seattle and the girlfriend he left behind, Clay chooses to stay on and continue the search on his own.

Following a tip about his uncle, he heads out into the most remote canyons of the Navajo reservation, with only a burro and a dog named Curly for company. Clay loses his heart to the vast, rugged land — and to an adventurous girl with a long, dark braid — but finds his uncle in big trouble. Can Clay pull off a risky plan to save his uncle — and the wild horses Uncle Clay has put his own life in jeopardy to protect?

Publishers Weekly

Set in 1962, this good-natured chronicle of a boy's summer-long search for his uncle is jam-packed with action and a heap of fortunate coincidences. After driving around the Southwest with his older brother Mike, Clay, 14, finds himself a job at a Monument Valley trading post. When a colorful prospector makes off with Mike's truck, leaving in exchange his trusty burro, Pal, Mike hightails it home. Clay, however, remains, and is duly rewarded with a snippet of news about his uncle. Encouraged, Clay packs up Pal and heads out; he happens upon the very family of Navajos that had befriended his uncle. The next stop is Utah, where Clay plunges headlong into his first romance, a jailbreak,stet comma and a noble scheme to liberate a herd of mustangs destined for the slaughterhouse. Hobbs's evident desire to educate his readers often leads to didactic dialogue: ``You know, there's only about twenty thousand mustangs left in the whole country. The lead mare's drinking now, then the next in rank and so on. If the stallion tries to drink before all the rest are finished, the mares will run him off.'' Despite a few ungainly moments, this novel has the kind of charm that just seems to come naturally when a likable kid is put into some gorgeous countryside with a bunch of wild horses. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)

Will Hobbs is the award-winning author of many popular adventure stories for young readers, including Bearstone and Beardance. His picture book, Beardream, illustrated by Jill Kastner, is a companion to these novels. Seven of his novels have been chosen by the American Library Association as Best Books for Young Adults. A graduate of Stanford University and former language arts teacher, he lives in Durango, Colorado, with his wife, Jean. Longtime backpackers and river runners, they have spent many years exploring the mountain and canyon settings of Will's stories.

To learn more about the author and his books, visit Will's Web site at WillHobbsAuthor.com.