Advance Review of Jacob Grey's Ferals
Release Date: April 28th, 2015
Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:
A sinister threat. A city in danger. A boy with the power to command the crows. Ferals is the first book in a dark, action-packed trilogy that’s part The Graveyard Book, part Batman, and all high-octane adventure.
Blackstone was once a thriving metropolis. But that was before the Dark Summer—a wave of violence and crime that swept through the city eight years ago, orchestrated by the fearsome Spinning Man. Now the Spinning Man is on the move again, and a boy named Caw is about to be caught in his web.
Caw has never questioned his ability to communicate with crows. But as the threat of a new Dark Summer looms, Caw discovers the underground world of Blackstone’s ferals—those with the power to speak to and control animals. Caw is one of them. And to save his city, he must quickly master abilities he never knew he had . . . and prepare to defeat a darkness he never could have imagined.
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Excerpt from Ferals:
A long, long time ago, ordinary people knew all about ferals. The let us be, living in harmony with the natural world. But then things changed. It started with accusations of witchcraft and sorcery. A few ferals were rooted out. Others went into hiding, but some fought back, and that only made the problem worse. Many feral lines were... ended. After that, the survivors learned to keep their powers a secret. Their gift became a curse.
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An exciting new world for Middle Grade kids (and some Adults). Blackstone is home to many different kinds of people, but it has been a sanctuary to a certain type of person for as long as they can remember. Ferals have flocked to the city to find a home with others of their kind. A Feral is a person who can talk with animals. Now, this isn't Doctor Doolittle and they do not talk with every animal. Each Feral can speak to only one type.
For 13 year old Caw, he has been alone for the past 8 years... well, almost alone. He has his crows to keep him company. They have kept him safe, scavenged for food with him, and talked with him when he felt lonely. As far as he knows, he is the only of his kind. Until one day, a prison break near the forest he lives in opens up a whole new world to him and one by one he finds more people like him. He also meets the prison warden's daughter, Lydia, whom he has seen with her family while he has spied on them during their daily routine. He isn't spying on them to be creepy, but because he is jealous. His mother and father pushed him away when he was only 5 years old.
Lydia quickly becomes his friend after he and his 3 crows (Glum, Screech, and Milky) save her, as well as her father, Mr. Strickham, from being killed by one of the escaped convicts. Even though his crows do not trust her, she offers to take him to the library to learn to read. While there, they draw a picture of a spider that was tattooed on one of the convicts chest and leave it with the librarian. This drawing sets off a chain of events that will change their lives and rock their world to the point where nothing will ever be the same again.
I kept a log of all the Ferals that were mentioned in the book and which animals they can communicate with.
Caw - Crows
Crumbs - Pigeons
Pip - Mice
Jawbone - Dogs
Mamba - Snakes
Scuttle - Cockroaches
Felix Quaker - Cats
Racklen - Wolves
Madeleine - Squirrels
Ali - Bees
Emily - Centipedes
Velma - Foxes
The Spinning Man - Spiders
Although it is mentioned that there are/were hundreds of different types of Ferals, some lines either died out during a tragedy that happened 8 years before the story begins, or they were too afraid to get involved with the events of this book.
I have loved this book and can't wait to see where Grey takes the story from this point. I think the plot is one I have never seen before and the story is very innovative. I think there are a lot of little "inside" jokes that the author has flecked throughout the story, like how the big bad villain is The Spinning Man. He controls spiders and the huge tragedy that killed off a lot of Feral lines happened 8 years ago (a spider has 8 legs). There is also the fact that the Cat Feral is named Felix. While this may not be obvious for most of the readers in this genre, there is a cartoon that began in the 1950's about a black cat named Felix (Felix the Cat). Little things like this make me smile, because it shows that the author not only has a sense of humor, but he really thought out the little things in the story.
While this book was written with tweens or younger kids in mind, it kept my attention the entire time. I recommend it for fans of Neil Gaiman, Rick Riordan, Brandon Mull, and the 39 Clues series..
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