The Wolf Tree

Gr 6—9—The Wolf Tree is a busy book with multiple characters, frenetic action, and a hodgepodge of plot points. It's part steampunk, part American tall tale, and part pseudo-Native American legend. The story begins with readers learning that Conker, John Henry's son who was thought to have died in The Nine Pound Hammer (Random, 2009) is alive, having been saved by Redfeather's magical copper necklace. The siren, Jolie (who also disappeared at the end of book one), takes him to a secret spring to nurse him back to health. Meanwhile, Nat, Si, Buck, Marisol, Ray, and the children they rescued from the Pitch Dark Train are living an idyllic life in the Smoky Mountains. Ray finishes his training and becomes a full-fledged Rambler. Life is reasonably comfortable until a dying stranger with pasty gray skin and motor oil in place of his blood comes to Shuckstack speaking of a terrible Darkness that is consuming the towns of the prairies. Ray and Marisol leave to investigate the Darkness, and Sally, Ray's sister, leaves to try and find her father. Meanwhile Conker and Jolie are trying to find the Nine Pound Hammer in order to repair it with wood from the fabled Wolf Tree that is a path into the spirit world. It is the only weapon that can destroy the Gog's evil Machine, which is causing the Darkness. Ultimately there is too much happening, and it is difficult to invest in either the characters or the story line. Recommended only where the first book is popular.—Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO