The Very Worst Thing - Hardcover

Hayden, Torey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060297921 ISBN 13: 9780060297923

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2003

Synopsis

David doesn't
belong anywhere.

He isn't good at school, or talking to people, or making friends. He's been in six different foster homes, and he can't really remember his parents. It seems like he'll never have anything all his own.

Then he finds an owl egg. With the help of Mab, the skinny "girl genius" of his class, he names it King Arthur and sets out to hatch and raise an owl of his very own. As they wait for King Arthur to hatch and as they raise the funny-looking owl chick, Mab and David become true friends.

But Mab's father thinks they should return King Arthur to the wild. Can David give up his owl? Is it even the right thing to do? What can David do if the worst thing of all happens?

About this title

About the Author:

Torey Hayden is an educational psychologist and a former special education teacher who since 1979 has chronicled her struggles in the classroom in a succession of bestselling books. She lives and writes in the U.K.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-7-Two outsiders warily become friends and join forces to hatch and raise an owl in this problem novel. David, 11, has been shuttled between foster homes for years. Now he has been placed with a woman who has the patience to deal with his stuttering and dyspraxia, and he begins to make great strides thanks to her understanding; his new friend, Mab; and King Arthur the owl. It is David's insecurity and need for closeness that doom the animal, but the friendship itself survives. David and Mab are successfully developed characters, but the secondary characters are not as well delineated. The hatching and development of the owl keep the story moving and help to compensate for some of the plot details that seem tacked on. David's story is adequately told, and the author wisely leaves some of his problems unresolved. This book may find an audience where outsider tales are in demand.
Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0060297921
• ISBN 13: 9780060297923
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176