<b>“Just the sort of book that saves lives by igniting a passion for reading.” –James Patterson</b><br><b><br>A Michael L. Printz Honor Winner</b><br><b>An ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection<br>An ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book<br></b><br>New York Times Best Seller <i>Navigating Early</i> by Clare Vanderpool, Newbery Gold Medalist for<i> Moon Over Manifest</i>, is an odyssey-like adventure of two boys' incredible quest on the Appalachian Trail where they deal with pirates, buried secrets, and extraordinary encounters.<br><br>At the end of World War II, Jack Baker, a landlocked Kansas boy, is suddenly uprooted after his mother's death and placed in a boy's boarding school in Maine. There, Jack encounters Early Auden, the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as a story and collects clippings about the sightings of a great black bear in the nearby mountains. Newcomer Jack feels lost yet can't help being drawn to Early, who won't believe what everyone accepts to be the truth about the Great Appalachian Bear, Timber Rattlesnakes, and the legendary school hero known as The Fish, who never returned from the war. When the boys find themselves unexpectedly alone at school, they embark on a quest on the Appalachian Trail in search of the great black bear. But what they are searching for is sometimes different from what they find. They will meet truly strange characters, each of whom figures into the pi story Early weaves as they travel, while discovering things they never realized about themselves and others in their lives.<br><br><b><b>A <i>New York Times </i>Editor’s Choice<br>A <i>New York Times</i> Middle Grade Bestseller<br>An Indie Pick <br>A<i> School Library Journal </i>Best Books 2013 <br>A <i>Kirkus</i> Best Book <br>A Booklist Books for Youth Editors’ Choice Selection<br>A BookPage Best Children's Book<br>A Texas Lone Star Reading List Selection<br></b></b><br><br><br><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i>