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Summary
Summary
For fans of the Warrior series and Redwall , Braver: A Wombat's Tale is an exciting new fantasy adventure novel for young readers from Suzanne Selfors and Walker Ranson.
A 2021 Charlotte Huck Recommended Book
Lola Budge isn't your average bare-nosed wombat. While her parents and neighbors in the Northern Forest want nothing more than peace and quiet, Lola loves to talk. Bored by the quiet routine of wombat life, Lola desperately wants something, anything , interesting to happen.
But when Lola follows the terrifying sound of unfamiliar screeching, she discovers a predator who has been kept in exile for many generations. And this creature has captured the peaceful wombats and carted them away--including Lola's parents.
To save her family, Lola will need help from the Queen of Tassie Island herself. But the road to the golden city of Dore is long and treacherous for a young wombat, especially with predators on the loose. To save the ones she loves, Lola will have to brave infested swamps, rushing rivers, and soaring heights, while encountering all sorts of strange critters, both friend and foe.
At times exciting, at times heart-warming, this is the story of a wombat who is much braver than anyone imagined.
An Imprint Book
Author Notes
Suzanne Selfors was born in Munich Germany in 1963. She was educated at Bennington College in Vermont, and then graduated with honors from Occidental College in Pasadena, California, in Documentary Film Production. She went on to receive an MA in Communications from the University of Washington.
She started writing seriously in 2002. She began by writing two novels for adults. Her first middle grade children's novel, To Catch a Mermaid, was published in 2007. She followed this with Saving Juliet, published in 2008. In 2015 her title Next Top Villain, made The New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
A young wombat faces danger and uncertainty in this anthropomorphic animal fantasy. Lola, a wombat joey, lives in the Northern Forest with her wombat parents. But unlike other wombats, Lola loves to talk and is not content with the quiet, stable life of foraging during the night and sleeping during the day. One day, sneaking out of her burrow home to explore, she encounters a messenger-platypus who delivers to her a secret message--but Lola has no idea what it means. Heading back to the burrow, Lola is horrified to discover that Tassie devils have rounded up all the wombats and are carrying them off in a large cage. Lola sees her parents through the bars, and her mother tells her to "Find your uncle!" before they are taken away. As Lola sets off for the royal city of Dore to look for her uncle, she befriends Melvin, a fastidious rat, and Blue, a baby penguin--sterling secondary characters whose quirky personalities add lively originality and exquisite freshness to the story. In the best hero's-journey way, Lola confronts her fears and learns her strengths. The richly imagined, tightly woven, and deliciously nuanced plot is inhabited by animals that live in the real world of Tasmania, and readers will also discover echidnas, pygmy possums, and swamp water rats as they go. Engrossing and engaging--a fabulous hero's quest. (Fantasy. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Young Lola isn't your average wombat: she's prone to chatter and often sneaks out for neighborly chats with the field mice and local birds. While she tries to tamp down her curiosity and live in harmony with her fellow wombats, she secretly longs for excitement. Her wish is dramatically granted when the entire wombat community, including her parents, are abducted from their cozy burrows while she's sneaking about, and it's up to a distraught but determined Lola to make the perilous journey to seek the queen's help. Lola doesn't remain alone for long, accidentally teaming up with a gentle swamp water rat and a hapless fairy penguin, and the ragtag trio becomes an unlikely heroic team on a crusade for wombat justice. It's a terrifically engaging tale filled with suspense and silliness, and young readers will quickly find themselves absorbed in the marvelously detailed world of the Australian wilderness. There are shades of Brian Jacques' Redwall (1986) here, but it's a much kinder world, and the novel cast of unusual antipodean critters allows the story to work in tidbits of real info about the Australian wildlife (poison platypus spurs! cubic wombat poop!). A page-turner that still manages to impart lessons in the joy of unexpected friendships, the strength of familial bonds, and the satisfaction that can come from embracing your truest self.
