Neversink by Barry Wolverton

 An Unlikely Hero

When the owls of Tytonia impose upon the peaceful inhabitants of the polar island of Neversink, the seabirds, called auks, find themselves losing their freedom. As tensions rise, the auks begin to break away from their passive ways to defend themselves, but it will take a brave puffin, a scholarly walrus, and a sharp-tongued hummingbird to resolve this before it becomes war!

             The pace of Neversink starts out slowly, but speeds up later. The story is set in the Ice Age, maybe because the author wanted to avoid dealing with issues of interfering humans and global warming in the story line. The story's plot is reminiscent of the American Revolution at first, but there is a twist that makes this story unique. There is also a scene almost identical to a part in Alice in Wonderland that adds to Neversink's humor. I enjoyed the humor and the action of the story, but I regret that the author did not leave room for a sequel. My favorite characters were Lockley, the puffin, and Astra and Oopik, the twin snowy owls. I liked Lockley because I admired his courage in leading the auks against the owls. Lockley managed to demonstrate how one puffin's family problem was in actuality the whole colony's problem. As for the owl characters, well, I just like snowy owls as a personal preference. Your preference may differ. I also noticed that auk mythology is almost identical, in terms of sea goddesses, with Inuit mythology. As a whole, I would certainly recommend this to other readers. It is definitely an enthralling read. 5 Star Favorite!