The End of the Wild

The End of the Wild
by Nicole Lea Helget
Little, Brown, and Co., 2017, Fiction, 266 p.

Fern lives with her step father and two brothers in a small, run-down house in rural Minnesota. Fern's step father is unemployed and they get much of their food by foraging and poaching animals in a nearby forest. Despite their poverty and the absence of a mother who died in a car accident years before, they are relatively happy. Then a fracking company moves into town and threatens the woods near their home. Fern feels threatened, but many in town welcome the company hoping for better employment opportunities.

I think this book is getting attention because it deals sensitively with a current issue. The author resists the temptation to oversimplify and make the story about a innocent girl fighting against an evil corporation. Instead she explores all sides of the issue. Well drawn and sympathetic characters make it all work. This is a great choice for fans of Carl Hiaasen's enviro-adventures for kids.

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