Posted on by TracyC

Windchaser

Dinotopia

#1 Windchaser by Scott Cienein,1995 .

Raymond Wilks is the son of a ship’s doctor. They are sailing on a ship taking convicts to the British colonies in Australia when the prisoners revolt and take over the ship during the middle of a terrible storm. Raymond’s father is killed, and the ship is wrecked, but Raymond escapes with a young thief named Hugh O’Donovan. The two of them are taken to shore by friendly dolphins, and they meet up with some of the inhabitants of Dinotopia.

At first, they are frightened of the dinosaurs, but everyone is kind to them. They are taken to Waterfall City, one of the most beautiful places in Dinotopia, and they begin learning about the history and ways of the land. People in Dinotopia don’t use money, and everyone shares with each other, trading goods and services for everything they need. There is no crime in Dinotopia because everyone has all that they need and everyone looks after each other.

Raymond, although still mourning his father’s death, thinks that Dinotopia is a wonderful place, and he admires the attitude of the people there. Hugh, who was orphaned at a young age and forced to steal to survive, has difficulty believing that the people are all as nice as they seem or the society as perfect as they say. His harsh childhood has taught him not to trust others too much. Little by little, the people of Dinotopia win Hugh over, and he desperately wants to become worthy of the kindness that people show him, although he doubts whether he ever can.

As Hugh and Raymond struggle to come to terms with their new life in Dinotopia, they encounter a flying dinosaur called a Skybax who is suffering from an old injury. The Skybax, called Windchaser, shows up from time to time and causes trouble. He is the only unhappy creature they have seen since arriving in Dinotopia, and Raymond develops a strong desire to learn what is wrong with him and help him. Raymond’s struggles to help the unhappy dinosaur lead him into danger, and Hugh fears that he may lose the best friend he’s ever had.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

The Mystery on October Road

OctoberRoadThe Mystery on October Road by Alison Cragin Herzig and Jane Lawrence Mali, 1991.

A strange man has moved next door to Casey.  He always wears a bandana tied across the lower part of his face, like a bandit.  His pets are the strangest dogs Casey has ever seen, huge Irish Wolfhounds.  He’s started fixing up his new house, but for some reason, he only likes to work at night.

One day Casey and her friend Cats (really, they’re both named Catherine, but they each have nicknames) go to take the man some bread that Casey’s mother baked, and they’re frightened away by one of the dogs.  Casey goes back to get the bread they left behind, and the man tells her to go away and leave him alone.

Casey and her friends (Cats and Benny, a boy Cats likes) are curious about this strange man.  They even wonder if he could be some kind of gangster, hiding out.  At her friends’ urging, they sneak into his house one day to look around.  When the man comes back unexpectedly, her friends get away in time, but Casey falls and hurts her ankle.  The man finds her in his house, and she learns the truth about him.

The man isn’t a bad guy, and Casey even becomes a friend for him.  The story ends on Halloween, when the man creates a special Halloween display for Casey of beautifully carved pumpkins.  The part that always fascinated me was the way he carved them, by peeling the skin off the pumpkin and only leaving it in places where he wanted dark lines.

Part of the story is about how appearances can be deceptive.  The stranger is actually a good person, but he is physically disfigured, which is why he doesn’t like people to see him.  For part of the story, Cats isn’t really a very good friend for Casey, neglecting her feelings and the feelings of the mysterious stranger in order to impress Benny.  But later, when she realizes that Casey was right about the stranger and that she was really hurt in their little escapade, she shows that she can be a better friend, too.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.