The Wild Ones

Talking animals. 

**Sigh.**

Yes, I'm always telling students that they need to read outside their comfort zones. And I really do try to read every single middle grade book published. Football, sad books, quirky books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, hamster books, fart books-- really, I read everything. I am frequently pleasantly surprised by how much I like some of the sports books and am glad that I am able to have a deep grasp of the full range of middle grade literature so that I can meet all of my students where they are. 

Talking animal books, however, are my bête noire. (With the exception of cute, cartoon mice. I never said it made sense.) Warriors books.  Brian Jacques books. Tui Sutherland's Wings of Fire series. Inbales' Foxcraft. Lasky's Horses of the Dawn. The list is ever growing. 

C. Alexander London, I wish you the best. But please go back to writing your Dog Tags books or your Tides of War books, because I have a huge need for those and they were excellent. Scholastic, why are those not in hard back? I need them in hardback. 

I read The Wild Ones. Really I did. I'm definitely purchasing them. I just don't feel like I can write a review that isn't tinged with my own, very personal bias against Kit fighting with the Flealess about the Bone of Contention. In Anklesnap Alley. **Sigh.**

C. Alexander London. Moonlight Brigade (The Wild Ones #2)

August 30th 2016 by Philomel Books

Copy received from the publisher

From Goodreads.com:

Kit may have saved the Wild Ones from the Flealess, but he and his neighbors are not out of danger yet. Coyote has taken charge of the Thunder River Rompers, a notorious gang of nearsighted otters, and he has his sights set on Ankle Snap Alley. When, on the eve of the First Frost, Coyote and his henchmen steal all of the seeds and nuts that the Alley's residents have stored up for winter, Kit knows that he can't sit by and do nothing. As he tries to fulfill his school assignments and win himself a coveted invitation into the Moonlight Brigade, Kit knows he must outsmart the Coyote so that his fellow Wild Ones can survive the winter.

C. Alexander London. The Wild Ones
August 25th 2015 by Philomel Books
Copy received from the publisher

From Goodreads.com:
Kit is a young raccoon who has lived his whole life under the Big Sky. But when a pack of hunting dogs destroy his home and kill his parents, Kit needs to escape.

He finds himself in Ankle Snap Alley, a city in the midst of a turf war between the Wild Ones and the people's pets who call themselves The Flealess. There he uncovers the secret that they died for--an ancient truce that gives Ankle Snap Alley to the Wild Ones. But the Flealess will stop at nothing to keep that secret buried forever, and Kit is in serious danger. Only the brave of heart and quick of paw can save the Wild Ones now.

Perfect for fans of the Warriors, Spirit Animals, or Redwall series, this first book in the Wild Ones epic is sure capture young readers' imaginations and take them on a great adventure.