Wild

A modern day twist on the Tarzan tale for teens and adults alike. Cleverly executed, the story will engage readers as they rush to find out the full story of the "primitive boy." Dara and her boyfriend Josh decide to skip Florida for their senior spring break and spend some quality alone time camping in the middle of a national park. All goes well until Dara gets the uneasy feeling that they're not alone, because get this, they're not. Cade has always lived in the woods. His parents escaped from the world and raised their son in the world away from the contamination and disease of humans. When Cade's parents die he continued to live in the forest without them because he didn't know any better. But now that he's seen Dara he is so full of questions. "He's from the woods. She's from the world." is the tagline. And it pretty much summarizes the entire story.

It wasn't incredibly fast paced and lagged in the middle, but it was a new take on an old tale so that was cool. Also, I would have liked to see some better resolution with Dara's boyfriend at the end (rather than nothingness), but oh well. In all likelihood, most reader's will likely forget all about Josh when they start to imagine how hot primitive boy Caleb is:

"Someone had bought him jeans that fit, and his T-shirt clung to his still damp skin. Tied into an intricate knot, his dreads kissed the back of his neck. His skin was paler, all the grim scrubbed away. But he was still golden-brown and keen-eyed. It's just now that he looked like he walked out of an H&M ad."

Overall, imaginative fun summer read. Great for teens and fans of Tarzan or primitive living.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

This book is an empowering and emotional read. Cheryl Strayed's feat of hiking almost the entire Pacific Crest Trail is one hell of an accomplishment as is her heartfelt retelling of her experience. At the age of twenty-six Cheryl had already suffered a tough life. Her mother had died four years prior and she divorced the love of her life months prior due to her infidelity. In need of a serious change and some soul searching, Cheryl decides to devote three months to hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, despite the fact that she has no backpacking or survival skills experience.

Her memoir is a beautiful recounting of the struggles she faced, the inner turmoil at the loss of her mother and failure of her marriage, the friends she met along the way, the sights she saw, and the strengthening of her body and soul.

While Cheryl might not have been the type of person I ever would have hung out with, I absolutely admire her spunk and relentless drive forward. It's a fast and encouraging read.

For fans of outdoorsy books, soul searching, and memoirs.