The Mob: Book 1 of Feather & Bone: the Crow Chronicles by Clem Martini Date of Publication: 2004 ISBN: 1553375742 Number of Pages: 239

REQUIRED READING ABILITY: Average
GENRES: Fantasy, Adventure
THEMES: Responsibility, Good versus Evil,

SUMMARY:
This is a saga of a crow family, the Kinaars, who are facing many troubles. When the family meets for the annual reunion at the Gathering Tree, a mob attacks a cat. This event leads to the culminating disaster.

Kyp, the young crow who is the leader of the attack and was destined to be the leader of the crow family, is judged and punished by a tribunal. He is temporarily exiled from the “Gathering.” This decision divides the Kinaars.

A heavy snow blizzard forces the crow family to split up, leaving the roost at the Gathering Tree and seeking shelter elsewhere. Some follow a female crow, Kim, towards human civilization, while others follow Kyp to a cavern. A mob of cats outside the cavern make it a night of struggle, heartache, and loss.

Upon returning to the Gathering Tree to recoup, the crows discover their meeting place has been destroyed by the heavy snows. All is not lost – the crows will survive and the reader is left with the idea that a hard lesson has been learned, and that next year under a new leader (Kyp), life will be better.

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...

• likes animal adventure stories like Watership Down, Redwall, The Guardians of Ga’houle, Silverwing, Sunwing, Firewing, Warriors.
• enjoys books about anthropomorphic protagonists
• likes epic struggles between good and evil
• is into birds
  

WHAT ELSE?
The crows display all the emotions and feelings of humans in this adventure. There are very descriptive passages of the earth as seen by a crow in flight and the night of terror between the crows and the cats.

This is a 2005 Red Maple Award Nominee, and there are sequels intended. It has already been optioned to become a movie as well.

RELATED LINKS:
The Crow Cronicles
Clem Martini: Why Crows?