VVMBookBlog

Logan is angry–angry at his control-freak step-father Robert, angry at his mother for not defending him against Robert’s sometimes strange actions, and angry at how all the forces in his life seem to be working against him.  And his anger causes him to do some dumb things.  Then, in order to teach Logan some “discipline and responsibility,” Robert decides that Logan needs a dog, which ends up being a mutt–a female named Jack–from the animal shelter.

This all happens against the backdrop of a strange disease that seems to be killing off all of the dogs in the area, but not before the dogs become sick enough to viciously attack anyone or anything around them.  This part of the book made it feel a little like a eerie, Stephen King-type book where forces beyond anyone’s control are building up for a bad ending!

Can’t say this was the best book ever.  Maybe there were a few too many coincidences. However it did keep me reading to see what happened with Logan, his family and Jack.

[This is one of those "don't-judge-a-book-by-its-cover" books!]

What would cause you to run away from home? For 12-year-old Dani (real name: Katahdin) it was the death of her brother (name: Springer) from muscular dystrophy, the divorce of her parents, and the way her life looked after those two tragedies.

And if you were running away from home, where would you go? Dani decided she wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail, one long continuous 2170-MILE trail running from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. (See map) If those mountain names are familiar, you should know that Dani’s parents met, and were married, while they were hiking the trail.

Now if you’re running away from home, and soon after the start of your escape your mom comes to find you to take you back home, what would you do? Well, I guess you can read Halfway to the Sky to find out what happens from here. Does she achieve her goal of becoming a “thru-hiker” on the Appalachian Trail?

Knowing people who have hiked parts of the Trail “section-hikers”, I liked reading more about what it’s like to hike the trail. Readers who like “problem” books about how people react to challenges in their life will enjoy seeing how Dani hikes her way through her challenges.

[Map image from http://www.appalachiantrail.com/]