It was with great anticipation in the Lyons household that Andrew Peterson’s North! or Be Eaten arrived on our doorstep a couple of weeks ago.  As a long-time fan of Peterson’s music (particularly Behold the Lamb of God) , I have been more than pleasantly surprised with his non-musical endeavors.

The second book in The Wingfeather Saga, North! picks up where his previous volume, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness left off.   The Igiby Family, recent escapees from Glipwood, are now faced with the daunting prospect of escaping through the perilous Glipwood Forest (home to the fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree) north to the Ice Prairies, where the dreaded Fangs of Dang are hampered by the frigid cold, and at a disadvantage to the oppressed humans of Skree.  Along their trek north, they encounter many new dangers – from the Gargan Rockroach, to the shifty Stranders of East Bend, from Dugtown to the Stony Mountains.

In addition to all of the external perils (including the dreaded Fork Factory, where a number of open questions are finally answered), the Igiby’s have to deal with a number of internal family struggles.   The struggles they are forced to deal with have few easy answers, and feel quite authentic.  Not only must our central hero, Janner, mature and grow in unexpected ways, but each member of the family must confront serious issues and experience painful change of their own.

What will they find when (or if) they reach the Ice Prairies?  Will the human resistance turn out to be more than a rumor?  Will Leeli’s mysterious singing abilities aid or hinder the family’s escape?  Will Tink’s newfound responsibilities overwhelm him?  Will Peet’s strangely disfigured arms be explained?  Will Podo’s pirate past finally catch up with him?  Will Nia be able to keep her family together and whole?  What do the tricky Fangs of Dang have up their slimy sleeves?

All of these questions will be answered, but the reader will end up wanting – that is, wanting Volume 3 to hurry up and arrive!

Peterson’s writing is quite entertaining and more than appropriate for both adults and young adults (the same audience of Inkheart and the Harry Potter books), with nothing that I, as a parent would be worried about for my children.  North! is well-paced, quite funny (particularly the puns and footnotes), and is actually an improvement on Edge, in that there are not nearly as many new and strange names to learn.   It also had a number of plot twists that were unexpected and creative that kept me, as an adult, quite entertained.  As a father who enjoys reading to his kids just before bed, I also appreciate Peterson’s layout using a large number of short chapters – which is a help spacing out reading with logical breaks (and often cliffhangers).

I highly recommend The Wingfeather Saga – whether you have kids or not.  (I also recommend reading it with Resurrection Letters, Vol II playing in the background, if you like music with your reading…)