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Cavern of Secrets

Cavern of Secrets

#2 in series

ebook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

In the second installment of the spellbinding Wing & Claw series, Newbery Medal-winning author Linda Sue Park takes a young apothecary hero to new heights of danger, exciting adventure, and intriguing botanical magic.

Raffa Santana has spent all winter hiding in the harsh wilderness of the Sudden Mountains, and now it's time to return home. Home, where his parents will help him fight back against the vile Chancellor who has captured and altered the wild creatures of the Forest of Wonders. Home, where Raffa's beloved companion, Echo the bat, will recover from his mysterious sickness.

To get there, Raffa must make a treacherous journey across Obsidia. Along the way, he will discover a luminous plant that might be the key to saving the creatures stuck in the Chancellor's grasp... if only Raffa can unlock the plant's secrets and deliver the cure to the captive animals.

Cavern of Secrets masterfully explores one boy's responsibility to his friends, family, and the wider world.

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  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      December 15, 2016
      In this sequel to Forest of Wonders (2016), hero Raffa applies his apothecary skills to thwart the Chancellor of Obsidia's malevolent plot to treat wild animals with botanicals and use them against her own people. Raffa, his cousin, Garith, and his friend Kuma, along with a talking bat named Echo, a gigantic bear, and a raccoon, have spent the winter in the Sudden Mountains, hiding from the Chancellor who wants to silence them because of their knowledge of her secret plan. With spring's approach, Raffa decides to return to his parents. On the perilous journey home, Raffa discovers a hidden cavern where he harvests a mysterious, translucent plant whose healing properties cure the ailing Echo. After witnessing the Chancellor's manipulated foxes, stoats, and crows devastate Kuma's village and finding his own home in ashes, Raffa covertly develops an antidote from the cavern plant, hoping to cure and free the captured animals. When his plan fails, a desperate, desolate Raffa faces a precarious future, pondering his role as a healer vis-a-vis his family, friends, and Obsidia. As in the trilogy opener, Park demands that her child protagonist make adult-sized choices that come with real consequences. Raffa's world is a diverse one; he has dark hair and light-brown skin, Kuma's skin is dark, and Garith is newly deaf. The nail-biting adventure, relevant moral dilemmas, and complex characters will leave readers eager for the final installment. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)

      COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • School Library Journal

      February 1, 2017

      Gr 5-8-In this second installment, readers pick up again with protagonist Raffa Santana. Having successfully led the escape of a very special bear, Roo, from government captors with terrible ambitions, Raffa and company hide out in the woods through winter. This time, they are on a quest to get back into the governmental hub of Gilden in an attempt to foil all of the devious and dastardly plans that the Chancellor has in store for their homeland. On their way, the group must make perilous stops at their respective homes and deal with the results of their actions. The real magic in this book comes from the personal relationships that Park crafts. The characters see the consequences that their actions had on their families, which imbues the narrative with a true level of realism and emotion. All of the things that made readers fall in love with the first volume, from Raffa's apothecary to Kuma's way with animals to Echo's quirky dialogue, are back in full force. The story is effectively paced and well told. The ending does little to wrap up the adventure but still leaves fans at an acceptable stopping point in Raffa's journey.

      Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • The Horn Book

      July 1, 2017
      Apothecary apprentice Raffa (Forest of Wonders) attempts to rescue enslaved animals used by Senior Jayney to attack recent immigrants. After a botched raid, Raffa's father is accused of setting the fire Raffa created as a distraction. Despite some heartwarming teamwork among Raffa's friends, the amount of contrivance needed to keep the plot moving hampers a sense of rising tension.

      (Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.3
  • Lexile® Measure:700
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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