Louise Sidley
March 03rd, 2025
Ten-year-old Robbie finds a wild mallard duckling that has become separated from her family, and takes her under his wing, naming her Wild One in Louise Sidley’s debut novel for kids aged 8 to 12, Project Wild One (Red Deer Press $14.95). To give Wild One the will to live, Robbie introduces her to his domestic duckling, Peeper. Taking care of two maturing ducklings proves difficult, both physically and emotionally. Added to Robbie’s fears, his granddad—a former duck hunter—moves into the family home for the summer, challenging Robbie’s ideas about protection and freedom, intention and foolhardiness, and life and death in the natural world. By the end of the summer, solitary Robbie has made friends with Harold, one of the kids whose families come to the lake each summer, and the two boys take action to save Wild One’s pond from destruction. Come autumn, Harold must leave for the city and Wild One must migrate, but Robbie and Peeper will be waiting and watching for their return. Retired teacher-librarian and MFA graduate, Louise Sidley lives and writes in Rossland, situated in the traditional and unceded territory of the sngaytskstx (Sinixt) People. Project Wild One is her debut novel. 9780889957633
Photo by Sarah Bourne.
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