Shelly's Book Blog

In The Hideout, by Peg Kehret, 13-year-old Jeremy Holland's parents have recently died, and his grandmother sends him to live with his rich uncle in Chicago. Understandably, Jeremy is in a pretty rough emotional state. Before he reaches his new home, his train crashes and he is left alone in the wilderness. Instead of waiting for help to arrive at the crash site, Jeremy decides to try living on his own in an abandoned cabin he finds. Jeremy has some money with him, so he goes to a small store near the cabin to buy supplies. At the store he meets and befriends Bonnie, a girl his age who lives nearby. One night when he is alone at the cabin, Jeremy hears gunshots, and later he discovers the body of a bear that was killed by poachers. Jeremy is afraid that if he reports the crime, his planned summer alone at the cabin will be ruined, so he asks Bonnie to help him. The two kids are soon over their heads trying to deal with the poachers on their own. Although the story's lessons could have been more subtly conveyed, I enjoyed this fast moving and exciting story.