Shadow Stream - Kirk Lombard;Parker Thornton

Reminiscent of The Outsiders and Watership Down, this riveting first novel of runaways and talking animals is sure to establish Kirk Lombard, a fishmonger by trade, as an exciting new voice.

Gabriel (“G” for short) is wasting away in the Abiddon County Juvenile Center when he’s introduced to the Shongunk River by his dying uncle. The river valley—trash-heaped but chock-full of mysteries and fish—wins G over. But, as G has learned, good things can’t last. The Shongunk is scheduled to be dammed by a local developer. In a matter of days, it will cease flowing, and everything that lives there will be as homeless as G. And “everything” encompasses the talkative and lively animals of the Shongunk: the trout, deer, bullheads, raccoons, possums, frogs, and birds dependent on the strained ecosystem.

Like G, the animals decide this is no time to accept their fate. A young trout is nominated to make a fateful journey up the Shongunk to inspire an uprising; a raccoon swears a violent oath against the humans; and a buck attempts to lead his dimwitted flock out of harm’s way. Together with G, this determined group shows that good can win, and that there is power in all of us, even the smallest minnow.

Written with deep knowledge of rivers, fish, and the natural world as a whole and told with wit, sly asides, and great empathy, this is a revelatory, deeply moving read from cover to cover.