Cavern of Secrets (Wing & Claw Series #2)

by Linda Sue Park, Jim Madsen (Illustrator)

Overview

In the second installment of the spellbinding Wing & Claw series, Newbery Medal-winning author Linda Sue Park takes a young apothecary hero to new heights of danger, exciting adventure, and intriguing botanical magic.

Raffa Santana has spent all winter hiding in the harsh wilderness of the Sudden Mountains, and now it’s time to return home. Home, where his parents will help him fight back against the vile Chancellor who has captured and altered the wild creatures of the Forest of Wonders. Home, where Raffa’s beloved companion, Echo the bat, will recover from his mysterious sickness.

To get there, Raffa must make a treacherous journey across Obsidia. Along the way, he will discover a luminous plant that might be the key to saving the creatures stuck in the Chancellor’s grasp… if only Raffa can unlock the plant’s secrets and deliver the cure to the captive animals.

Cavern of Secrets masterfully explores one boy’s responsibility to his friends, family, and the wider world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062327437
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/07/2017
Series:	Wing & Claw Series , #2
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Lexile:	700L (what's this?)
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medal winner for A Single Shard and #1 New York Times bestseller for A Long Walk to Water, is the renowned author of picture books and novels for young readers. She lives in Western New York. Learn more at lindasuepark.com.

Editorial Reviews

The nail-biting adventure, relevant moral dilemmas, and complex characters will leave readers eager for the final installment. — Kirkus Reviews

With its engaging hero, talking animals, arcane magic, moral issues, and unresolved plot, this first of a proposed trilogy promises more exciting forest wonders. — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) for Forest of Wonders

As in life, the choices are never black and white as Park’s realistically flawed characters struggle between looking out for the greater good or for themselves. — Publishers Weekly for Forest of Wonders

From the Publisher

02/01/2017
Gr 5–8—In this second installment, readers pick up again with protagonist Raffa Santana. Having successfully led the escape of a very special bear, Roo, from government captors with terrible ambitions, Raffa and company hide out in the woods through winter. This time, they are on a quest to get back into the governmental hub of Gilden in an attempt to foil all of the devious and dastardly plans that the Chancellor has in store for their homeland. On their way, the group must make perilous stops at their respective homes and deal with the results of their actions. The real magic in this book comes from the personal relationships that Park crafts. The characters see the consequences that their actions had on their families, which imbues the narrative with a true level of realism and emotion. All of the things that made readers fall in love with the first volume, from Raffa's apothecary to Kuma's way with animals to Echo's quirky dialogue, are back in full force. The story is effectively paced and well told. The ending does little to wrap up the adventure but still leaves fans at an acceptable stopping point in Raffa's journey. VERDICT An excellent follow-up in a strong new fantasy series; ideal for most middle grade collections.—Chad Lane, Tulip Grove Elementary School, MD

School Library Journal

2016-12-06
In this sequel to Forest of Wonders (2016), hero Raffa applies his apothecary skills to thwart the Chancellor of Obsidia's malevolent plot to treat wild animals with botanicals and use them against her own people. Raffa, his cousin, Garith, and his friend Kuma, along with a talking bat named Echo, a gigantic bear, and a raccoon, have spent the winter in the Sudden Mountains, hiding from the Chancellor who wants to silence them because of their knowledge of her secret plan. With spring's approach, Raffa decides to return to his parents. On the perilous journey home, Raffa discovers a hidden cavern where he harvests a mysterious, translucent plant whose healing properties cure the ailing Echo. After witnessing the Chancellor's manipulated foxes, stoats, and crows devastate Kuma's village and finding his own home in ashes, Raffa covertly develops an antidote from the cavern plant, hoping to cure and free the captured animals. When his plan fails, a desperate, desolate Raffa faces a precarious future, pondering his role as a healer vis-à-vis his family, friends, and Obsidia. As in the trilogy opener, Park demands that her child protagonist make adult-sized choices that come with real consequences. Raffa's world is a diverse one; he has dark hair and light-brown skin, Kuma's skin is dark, and Garith is newly deaf. The nail-biting adventure, relevant moral dilemmas, and complex characters will leave readers eager for the final installment. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews