The Darkest Path
By Jeff Hirsch
4/29/2016
Trevor Kelley
Mrs. Fuller
Characters
The year 2026, and the United States is having a civil war with the Army of the Glorious Path, and 15 year-old Callum Roe, and his 13 year-old brother, James, are in the middle of it. They find a dog named Bear, and along their way to the journey home, the meet a group of civilians who are fighting the Path. Among them is 15 year-old Natalie.
Summary
When Callum and James are taken away from their family and captured by the Army of The Glorious Path, they are forced to work and live among them at Camp Cormorant, Callum working for a despicable dog catcher, and James as a personal aid to Captain Monroe, head of the camp. 6 years later, 15 year-old Cal finds a stray dog and befriends him. The Kennel Master, Quarles, wants to turn the small, friendly dog into a bloodthirsty killing machine. In an attempt to hide the dog, who's name was Bear, from Quarles, who ends up killing him out of self defense. Cal knows that the Path will kill him for doing so, so he tries to escape with Bear and James. When he does, they are both weak and have very little food and water. Something happens with James, and Cal and Bear try to travel back home to New York without running in to any Path. It is a story of loss, sacrifice, love, and sadness in Jeff HIrsch's action packed novel, The Darkest Path.
Favorite Character
My favorite character of the story was Cal, because he is very determined to get back home to New York, and he never gives up, even when things seem to be going horribly wrong.
"How much would it be to trade the sound of Mom singing Joni MItchell songs to the strumming of Dad's guitar for the chop of helicopter rotors and the bay of starving dogs? How much longer would it be before I lost them forever?" (37).
This shows how after all those years of being in a Path camp, Cal still misses his parents, and still wants to go home. This shows Cal's determination and stubbornness to not let things go.
Author
The author's name is Jeff Hirsch.
Although there is no age given, I can assume he is either in his late 30's or early 40's.
He is originally from Richmond, Virginia, but currently lives in a small town in New York
Inspiration
In the 7th grade, he was given a writing assignment by his English teacher. She called his writing excellent, and told him he should consider writing as a profession. He attended a writing camp in middle school, and loved it. Also, during grad school, he started to read popular writers that wrote books for teens, and he loved them and wanted to do it himself.
He says he got inspiration for the character Bear, from his dog Rosie.
Bibliography
Hirsch, Jeff A. "About Me." Jeff Hirsch. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2016.