Wild Boy: The Real Life of the Savage of Averyron, by Mary Losure (March 2013)

Summer and winter, the wild boy lived in the forest.

The first time people saw the wild boy, he was about 9 years old.  When he was around 10 years old, he was caught by a group of woodsmen and displayed in the village square.  He managed to escape and return to the forest.  Later, he was captured again, but instead of being put on display, he stayed with a poor old widow who lived in a cottage on the edge of the village.  For 8 days he was treated with kindness.  He escaped again.

He was less fearful of people because he realized they might give him food.

In January 1800, he was caught again.  Rumors had spread across the countryside about a wild boy, and officials wanted to know if it was true.  They also realized that scientists in Paris would be very, very interested in studying a real wild human.

The wild boy was 12 years old when he was caught stealing food from a garden.  Many believed he was deaf and mute.  Should he be in an orphanage?  An insane assylum?  A school of deaf and mute children?  For many years, the wild boy was treated not as a human, but as a specimen.  Until a hero came to teach him.

Wild Boy was an interesting read about the true story of a wild boy found in southern France in the late 1700s.  

Rating:  8 out of 10 stars

Not available at NOLS...yet!

Dust Lands Book 2: Rebel Heart, by Moira Young (2012)

It's late afternoon.  Since morning, the trail's been following a line of light towers.  That is, the iron remains of what used to be light towers, way back in Wrecker days, time out of mind.  

Picking up the story where Blood Red Road left off, Jack is on his way to tell Ike's girl the bad news.  He's headed to a tavern in the storm belt called The Lost Cause.  All he wants to do is tell Molly, and then get back to Saba in Big Water.

The Tonton used to be dirty, rough, violent thugs, but now they are clean cut, organized.  This makes Jack feel uneasy.

It means that the enemy have changed their game.

The Tonton follow the Pathfinder and work to make his vision for New Eden come true.  Young, healthy adults are branded on their forehead to populate and New Eden.  These landgrabbers are called Stewards of the Earth, miracles to heal the earth.  Everyone else is eliminated or enslaved.   Homesteads are forcibly taken, family members are murdered.  

Saba wants to meet Jack in Big Water, but things don't go as planned as they start their journey.  First a disturbing message from Maeve from Jack.  Then Saba learns that the Pathfinder put a price on her head.  She is haunted by the ghost of Epona.  And she has an unusual attraction to the Pathfinder, Seth.

Read Rebel Heart to find out what happens to Jack and Saba.  Even though there are parts of the book that aren't ever answered, like when Ariel tried to help Saba with her demons, it's still a good read.

Rating:  6 out of 10 stars
* inferences of rape, prostitution, sexual references, language

To check this read out at NOLS, click HERE!