Rebel's Tag

by K. L. Denman

Overview

Sam's grandfather vanished from his life the day Sam's father was buried. Now, ten years later, Grandpa Max wants to make amends. He sends letters that lead Sam on a scavenger hunt. Sam follows his grandfather's bizarre instructions though he's still not ready to forgive. To alleviate his anger at his grandfather, Sam turns to his favorite stress release: climbing onto roofs and leaving his tag, a spray painted symbol for Aquarius. When he gets caught by an elderly couple, Sam learns a valuable lesson about forgiveness. He's ready to forgive his grandfather, but is he too late?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554696963
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	10/01/2007
Series:	Orca Currents Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

K.L. Denman has written many novels for youth, including the Orca Currents titles Destination Human and Agent Angus. Many of K.L.’s titles have been listed as Best Books of the Year, and Me, Myself and Ike was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary award. She lives in Delta, British Columbia.

Read an Excerpt

Oh, man. Someone must have seen Indi and me doing our thing. They recognized me and reported it to the cops. This envelope is from the cops. They write letters? Wouldn't they just come and hassle me?

I keep cool, reach inside, draw out a sheet of paper. It doesn't have any official emblems. It just looks like a letter, starting with "Dear Samuel." Weird. No one writes me letters. I shoot another glance at Mom but she hasn't budged. She's just standing there looking like she's going to burst.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 6-8 Sam Connor, 14, can barely remember his grandfather. When his father died 10 years earlier, the once-loving and involved man simply walked away from the grave site, severing contact with Sam and his mother. Now, however, the teen has received a letter from him, seeking reconciliation and sending him on a somewhat mystical scavenger hunt for symbolic items-a cradle, an antique watch-that will rebuild their connection. Sam deals with this strange new development and his ambivalent feelings about forgiving his grandfather in the rather idiosyncratic way he's come to cope with stress: sitting on the roofs of neighborhood buildings with his friend Indira and leaving behind his "tag," a small spray-painted symbol of the planet Uranus. Add Sumerian proverbs to the totemic heirlooms and the astrological import of the tag and Denman's symbolism tends toward the esoteric and heavy-handed. Much of the action seems as if it would strain both the credulity and patience of struggling and reluctant middle school readers toward whom the book is aimed. Character development is also a weak point; Sam's grandfather remains a dim and distant figure throughout, and even the teen himself is never fully fleshed out.-Meredith Robbins, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, New York City

School Library Journal

"This book has a story that keeps the reader interested, with short chapters and easy-to-read vocabulary."

Resource Links

"It's no small feat to engage and hold the interest of reluctant readers. With Rebel's Tag, Denman does the job."

Quill & Quire

"A wonderful novel that will draw reluctant readers in from the get-go and hold them captive until the bittersweet end. Denman's writing is clean and the voice brilliant. Highly Recommended."

CM Magazine

"Written for reluctant readers, this text tackles such heavy topics as forgiveness and death while using accessible, age-appropriate vocabulary."

The Horn Book Guide