When Eagles Fall

2014
Author:

Mary Casanova

An intense adventure story of girl versus nature in Minnesota’s north woods

Thirteen-year-old Alex is sent away for the summer to live with her father, an esteemed eagle researcher, in remote Rainy Lake, Minnesota. When her father chooses not to save some baby eagles whose nest is in peril, Alex helps them anyway but her rescue effort goes wrong and she becomes stranded, desperately trying to keep herself and an injured bird alive.

[A] well-researched survival novel with lots of local color and a teenage heroine who turns out to have plenty of grit. A good choice for reluctant readers.

Booklist

Things have not been easy for thirteen-year-old Alex lately. Recent events have taken their toll on her family, and when drinking at a party lands her in the hospital, things only get worse. Her mother decides to send her away to spend the summer with her father, an esteemed eagle researcher, on the wild and remote shores of Rainy Lake in Minnesota. The bugs, the outhouse, the isolation—it’s a whole different world from her home in California.

The hardest part of Alex’s exile is dealing with her father, who is sure that he knows it all. When he chooses not to save a pair of baby eagles whose nest is in peril, Alex sneaks off to help them anyway. Her rescue effort goes wrong, and one of the eaglets falls out of the nest, breaking a wing. Alex is alone with the helpless eagle, stranded and completely exposed to the elements. Facing hunger, injury, and a bear, she quickly discovers that it will take resources she never knew she had just to keep herself and the bird alive.

Mary Casanova is the author of more than thirty books, ranging from picture books to YA novels, including Frozen (Minnesota, 2012).

[A] well-researched survival novel with lots of local color and a teenage heroine who turns out to have plenty of grit. A good choice for reluctant readers.

Booklist

Mary Casanova has written an eco-adventure story that also provides valuable information about eagle research.

School Library Journal

This fine adventure story features a strong-minded girl who must find a way to survive.

VOYA