LION ON THE RUN

by Marian Rumsey ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 1973

Less taut than some of Rumsey's previous adventures, this nevertheless strikes a credible balance between 12 year-old Jerry's sentimental attachment to his domesticated mountain lion cub Pepper and the animal's dignity as a wild creature. Jerry's first efforts to care for the otherwise unwanted cub and to provide outlets for its increasingly active behavior (which threatens to wreck the house and frightens the neighbors) are guided by his stem but non-interfering father. So that when it's decided (by a City Council ordinance and the imperatives of Pepper's rapid growth) that the lion must adjust to a caged existence on a distant ranch, it comes as no surprise that the confident and enterprising Jerry decides to take Pepper back to the wild Idaho mountains and train it to hunt for itself. The journey by bicycle and backpack may be an unlikely achievement for a town-bred boy and Pepper's luck (even when she's shot, it's by a ranger with a tranquilizing gun) is just as improbable, but the characters are sturdy enough to compete with those other boy-animal companions of Beaver of Weeping Water, Devil's Doorstep and Seal of Frog Island.

Pub Date: March 14, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1973

Categories: FICTION