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THE QUEST OF THE CUBS by Kathryn Lasky Kirkus Star

THE QUEST OF THE CUBS

From the Bears of the Ice series, volume 1

by Kathryn Lasky ; illustrated by Angelo Rinaldi

Pub Date: Feb. 27th, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-545-68304-3
Publisher: Scholastic

When mercenaries serving an evil cult come to abduct two polar bear cubs, their mother offers herself in exchange for their freedom.

Barely into their second season, the cubs known only as First and Second must fend for themselves in a harsh, frozen land. But while predators, hunger, and weather are constant threats, the two young cubs discover that there are surprising friends willing to help them on their quest to find not only their missing mother, but their estranged father. Even with help from Lago, a Nunquivik fox who shares her hunt, or Jameson, a seal whose quick thinking helps them escape from a pod of hungry killer whales, the cubs must draw on their own resources if they are to survive the journey. Scattered chapters tell of their mother’s captivity at the hands of a cult of bears who worship a giant clock. Lasky once again invites readers into a world where the natural and the supernatural intersect. And while the world of the ice-bound north is beautiful, this is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of mechanization and the tendency to confuse the divine with the profane.

Nature, magic, and legend combine to create a world like no other.

(Fantasy. 9-12)