I picked this book because of its cover: it was clearly trying to be Newbery material.

And the first 45% or so didn't disappoint. A little light, a little thin on the page (large fonts, wide margins and line spacing), but a fantastic set up for this coming-of-age adventure.

And then we meet the "illegal girl" and the book never seems to recover. I'll think about it some more, but I don't think it adds much to the story. (In real life, that 15-year old's pregnancy would be considered statutory rape and the situation would have necessarily taken a very different turn.)

The dad is real as is his friend. The son is a good representation of boys that age and, while the situation with the mom progresses quickly, things seem real there, too.

I think the book's narrative would have been better served with them staying out on the trail more, exploring their relationship, looking back and working on the future. ( )

A realistic fiction novel, The Courage Test, brings a young man closer to his mother and his father despite their divorce.

This novel isn’t so much about being courageous as about being kind. Will chooses unkindness because he’s angry. He’s made the All-Star team, but his dad is making him go on a trip with him instead of play. His dad is not athletic, but he’s pretty smart. For thirteen years he has been researching Lewis and Clark. He’s now going to take Will, his son, driving, canoeing, and hiking down part of the path. Will can only be angry so long because “being a jerk is exhausting” (10). Will begins to have a good time and learns a lot about the true courage it took for these people to go into the unknown for two years.

In their journey, they re-meet each other. Instead of the dad that Will feels abandoned him, he finds a man who knows how to take care of himself in the wilderness and who has interesting friends and who is kind. Will misses his mom but finds the vastness of the wilderness amazing and even scary. He’s convinced a bear will attack him. He even meets an Indian whose family came from this part of the world and a homeless illegal Mexican with a very large dog.

This is a novel about what one learns on a journey. Will will learn about his dad and his mom and about what it takes to be a courageous and kind human. In other words, he has to learn to “man up” with grace and dignity. It’s an easy novel to read, geared definitely more for students who don’t want much depth in their novels and enjoy the great outdoors. ( )