BEARWALKER

Thirteen-year-old Baron Braun has enough to deal with: new school, bullies, being short, a missing father and a mother in Iraq. He does not need a week at camp with his new classmates and those bullies. When he gets to Camp Chuckamuck, he finds that it’s run by the creepy Mr. Mack. What’s even more frightening is Walker White Bear who is decidedly un-Native American, despite his looks. Walker also reminds Baron of the Mohawk legends about a man who turns himself into a monster bear by killing his relatives. Without warning, the only road to camp is destroyed by scheming developers. Baron is the only hope of his classmates, and whether he’s a Mohawk monster come to life or just a crazy human, Walker stands in Baron’s way. Despite a plot that runs on slasher-film logic and an inconsistent use of the convention of the tale told in a journal, fans of Bruchac’s short, Native American legend–inspired horror will enjoy this latest entry in the series. (Fiction. 9-12)