June 1, 2014
Gr 3-5-Life as a caveboy is rough. You constantly have to prove yourself by bashing anything that moves with your club. For Lug, it's the complete opposite of who he is. Lug is an artist who would much rather paint on the walls of a cave than smash skulls with his club. In Lug's words, "paintings don't tell you what to do, or call you names, or make you feel small or worthless." Ultimately, the protagonist is banished from his tribe because of his lack of bravery. He meets a vegetarian animal whisperer named Echo along with his tribesman Stony, and they work together to save their fighting clans from the impending deep freeze. This book is filled with humor but also a deeper message of learning to accept who you are and not backing down from what you are passionate about. The novel lends itself to discussions of bullying and accepting differences. Readers who are unfamiliar with the Ice Age could benefit from pairing this work with informational texts on the animals and climate of the time period. A roaring addition for public and school libraries.-Andy Plemmons, David C. Barrow Elementary, Athens, GA
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 1, 2014
A Stone Age comedy features a caveboy guilty of "uncavemanlike behavior." The summary exile that Lug earns by failing to capture a "jungle llama" to ride in an upcoming headstone match turns out to be a blessing in disguise, as it leads to a meeting with Hamela-a member of the rival Boar Rider clan who has turned from the customary all-dodo diet to vegetarianism. She in turn introduces him to Woolly, an errant young mammoth atop whom he goes on to lead his headstone team to victory. Lug lands in further hot water when his forbidden cave paintings are discovered-but following the arrival of snow, a pride of saber tooth tigers and more mammoths, he manages to convince at least some of his simpleminded people that big changes are coming. By the end, he even has them using fire ("storm light"). The animals all talk (except the dodos), and Lug's frog-licking proto-hippie sidekick leads a notably rock-headed supporting cast. Happily, characters speak in complete sentences and with standard syntax, and the banter is nicely snappy. Preliminary sketches indicate that suitably primitive art will accompany the story. Fred Flintstone would feel right at home in this light-as-pumice comedy. (Fantasy. 9-11)
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