Kestrel Takes Flight

McCullough (Code Red) chronicles one tween’s reckoning with religious faith and overcoming fear in this empowering verse novel. Eleven-year-old Kestrel Sinclair feels like she’s being kidnapped when her mother whisks her away from their San Diego home to Bozeman, Mont., without letting Kestrel say goodbye to her grandfather. Moving into a cozy guesthouse at the Rocky Mountain Bear Institute, Kestrel—who’s terrified of dogs—finds herself surrounded by them due to her mother’s new job caring for the institute’s pack of Karelians, which are trained to track down bears and keep them away from humans. Even as Kestrel yearns for her grandfather, though, she gradually realizes that, because he controlled every aspect of her life—including her attending their Catholic church’s private school and participating in daily worship activities—Kestrel doesn’t feel like she has her own identity. As she learns harsh truths about her and her mother’s past and confronts her family’s belief system (“Grandpa is always right/ and anyone who questions him/ is questioning God”), Kestrel channels the ferocity of her namesake, a bird of prey, to face her fears. Accessible text portrays the protagonist’s shift from frightened nervousness to steadfast self-confidence, resulting in a deeply introspective offering. An author’s note concludes. The Sinclairs are white. Ages 10–up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich, & Bourret. (May)