The Lion's Paw (Middle-Grade Fiction)

A friend recently recommended Robb White's The Lion's Paw.  He remembered loving it as a kid, tried to find it for his own kids, and discovered that it was just reissued a few months ago.  I'm so glad it was.  It's a terrific, old-timey adventure story.  The requisite orphans, a brother and sister named Nick and Penny (ages 9 and 12), run away from their orphanage and team up with Ben (15), whose father has gone missing while fighting in World War II. Ben believes his father is still alive, but everyone else (other than Penny and Nick) is convinced he's dead.  When Ben's unsympathetic uncle decides to sell his father's boat, the three kids set sail, fleeing both Ben's uncle and orphanage officials.  

THE LION'S PAW is well written and action-packed.  White includes enough danger to keep the tension high, and somehow maintains a reassuring tone.  I felt both scared and safe.  That's one hallmark of a good children's book. 

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