The Maestro

TIM WYNNE-JONES

This book is a combination of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet and Gary D. Schmidt's Okay For Now–there is wilderness survival in the Canadian wilderness and a complete jerk of a father who doesn't appreciate his son's artistic potential (the way certain school teachers and other supporters do). Burl comes from an abusive household, his passive mother addicted to prescription drugs and his father physically and emotionally abusive (as well as lecherous). After inadvertently catching his father in a secret tryst with the local coffee shop barista, Burl runs away into the late-summer wilderness to avoid any repercussions. After a few days, he comes across the remote lakeside cabin of world class eccentric and composer Christopher Orlando Gow, who leaves him in charge of the property at Ghost Lake before heading back to Toronto. While I enjoyed this story, parts of it were too slow for even me, and I can see some readers possibly losing interest about halfway through the novel. However, the climax is action-packed and heartbreaking, well worth pushing through some of the middle sections. With that in mind, male audiences will definitely enjoy reading this novel.