Part wilderness adventure, part grisly monster tale, this is also an exciting coming-of-age story of an Indian kid today, proud of his roots, but never sentimental about what is happening in his world. The shortest kid in eighth grade, Baron sees himself as a miniscule mouthy Mohawk misfit; but on a class camping trip in the Andirondacks, he confronts a homicidal monster, bonds with a huge bear, and defeats the evil land-grabbers who are scheming to sell the wilderness land to developers. Kids will find some gruesome details (including piles of eyeballs) and sense ridicule of the corny, phony endeavors by some whites to subvert Native Americans. The suspense builds as Baron draws on what his elders have taught him to defeat scary threats, human or animal, and Comport's occasional charcoal-and-pencil illustrations add to the fearful fun.

Thirteen-year-old Baron Braun has enough to deal with: new school, bullies, being short, a missing father and a mother in Iraq. He does not need a week at camp with his new classmates and those bullies. When he gets to Camp Chuckamuck, he finds that it's run by the creepy Mr. Mack. What's even more frightening is Walker White Bear who is decidedly un-Native American, despite his looks. Walker also reminds Baron of the Mohawk legends about a man who turns himself into a monster bear by killing his relatives. Without warning, the only road to camp is destroyed by scheming developers. Baron is the only hope of his classmates, and whether he's a Mohawk monster come to life or just a crazy human, Walker stands in Baron's way. Despite a plot that runs on slasher-film logic and an inconsistent use of the convention of the tale told in a journal, fans of Bruchac's short, Native American legendinspired horror will enjoy this latest entry in the series. (Fiction. 9-12)

Gr 5-8-The book begins at a brisk pace with Baron, a 12-year-old Mohawk, preparing to board the bus for the eighth-grade fall bonding experience at Camp Chuckamuck (a fake Native American name if there ever was one). Small for his age, he is worried because he has been the target of the class bullies since his arrival at Pioneer Junior High (another name he hates) six months earlier. The story moves from a school-yard roughing up to the camp, where Baron senses the evil presence of a legendary creature that is a man, yet behaves as a predator. The plot immediately thickens as the former owners arrive, ostensibly summoned by his teacher, Mr. Wilbur, who didn't call them. The cabin is 10 miles into and beyond the park in the Adirondacks on a narrow dirt road. An explosion seals off the entire area, phone lines have been cut, and a despicable plan by land-grabbing promoters is revealed. The scheme spins out of control as the "Bearwalker" attempts murder, multiple lives are threatened, and Baron must make a desperate effort to save them all. This fast-paced survival story is a great read for mystery fans, and it also addresses the delicate balance between humans and nature.-Sheila Fiscus, Our Lady of Peace School, Erie, PA Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.