The Big Dark by Rodman Philbrick
Note from Kimmery: all middle grade books with boy protagonists are reviewed by my nine year-old son, Alex, and contain spoilers. If you are looking for recommendations for a boy aged 7-12, please read on!
I think The Big Dark is a great book and should be 4 and a half stars!
I liked it because it was adventurous and because the main character was likable and brave! At the end of every chapter, I could not wait to read more.
The Big Dark is about a boy who is living in a small town, and on New Years Eve the town is watching what they think is the northern lights but suddenly there’s a big flash and the electricity goes out.
In the first few days the boy’s family is just gathering fire wood and stuff like that, but then a man named Webster Bragg and his sons are trying to shoot open a ATM but that leads to much worse. Next Webster Bragg and his sons burn down the only pharmacy in the town, but what’s really bad is the boy’s mom has a type of diebeatys and there is no pharmacy so she can't buy more pills and she has to take a pill once a day and there is 19 pills left in her bottle!
No one can help so the boy/Charlie has a idea. He is going to ski to Concord which is 15 miles forwards and 15 back (Not counting wind.)
So he sneaks out the next morning, grabs his friend’s skis and some food, and starts to ski.
At first he's gliding, going at a perfect speed but up ahead there is a big problem.
He stops to eat and eats until he's full and he leaves some food out for a squrill or a bird, it felt like a good idea then but it turned out to be bad.
He’s skiing, then a hungry packed of coyotes are chasing him for more food! He was forced to give the coyotes all of his food. He’s about three quarters there when he finds a family that lets him stay and eat.
When he finally gets there he notices that the town had been robbed! A family shows him a tiny hospital that has the medicine he needs but he has to stay there over night.
In the morning he goes back to the family that let him stay and eat.
They reward him with their son who happens to be a bob sled racer, and he and his huskies give Charlie a fast ride back to his town when he enters, Webster Bragg and his boys steel the medicine from him and say if you want the medicine you have to beg for it.
The town does a town meeting and they get trapped and Webster Bragg and his boys are outside surrounding the area. There in a wooden building and Webster Bragg threatens to burn it down if their leader/mayor doesn’t step outside.
Their mayor steps out and they shoot him!
At the end the science teacher points out that the electricity is back on and everything his back to normal. His mom can drive to the town to get medicine. Webster Bragg and his boys are back to normal, so that is a problem.