Hum - by William David Thomas

Book Synopsis

A chance encounter with an old llama astonishingly reveals a language Allen didn't know he could speak in this captivating and one-of-a-kind middle-grade novel.

For fans of Katherine Applegate and the beloved classic Hatchet, comes an emotionally driven, magical-realism, outdoor survival story for 9-12-year-old readers. Now available in paperback!

11-year-old Allen has a recurring nightmare, a persistent habit of humming, and difficulty connecting with other people. Making a fresh start, he and his grandmother move to a small village in northern New York. But when he meets an old llama at a winter festival, the encounter reveals a language Allen didn't know he could speak and unveils repressed memories that contradict what he has long believed about his earliest years and his parents' deaths.

When the llama's life is threatened, Allen vows to free it. Together they begin a desperate trek through a snowy wilderness, a journey on which Allen must wrestle with lies about his past while struggling against the elements to survive.

A fast-paced novel that's both emotionally captivating and steeped in survival, Hum is sure to resonate with middle-grade readers.

Review Quotes

A story about learning to forge connections with others (human or otherwise) morphs into a wilderness survival tale when orphaned fifth-grader Allen, having moved to his gramma's country town, rescues an old llama slated to be slaughtered for a local restaurant. Thomas shovels in themes, issues, and plotlines--baseball, alopecia, making new friends, animal abuse, life-changing encounters with nature, recurrent nightmares linked to suppressed memories, coping with serious injuries both physical and emotional. But it's the vividly rendered cast that's most likely to stick with readers as Allen becomes the target of a brutal bully and his savage, gun-wielding dad, while also getting immediate and unexpectedly warm welcomes from two particular classmates and from Max, an airily cerebral high-school senior who volunteers to mentor her new "young Jedi." Not to mention the llama, who, along with being surprisingly communicative, repeatedly saves his life. If the justice meted out to the bullies seems rough (though perhaps well deserved), the author does point Allen and his supporters toward brighter, happier futures at the end.
--Booklist

About the Author

When William David Thomas was very young, he wanted to be a cowboy. Then he wanted to be a baseball pitcher. Then he wanted to be an artist. None of those things worked out. Then he discovered he loved writing for young people and his first book was published in 2005. He has written lots of nonfiction and Hum is his fiction debut.