Heart-stopping, tail-dropping adventure from award-winning children’s author WJ Scott.FINALIST in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards UK 2017 9-12 yrs.FINALIST Book Excellence Awards 2018 Pre-teen.Sometimes loss is the only thing that saves you.Last summer during the dreaded hunting season, Kywah lost his tail, his magic, and his value as a silvertail. Now the hunters have returned and he’s terrified. … returned and he’s terrified. Especially when he recognizes Samsa, the very hunter that cut off his tail, and ruined his life.
But when the pack becomes trapped in the foothills with no escape, Kywah realises he’s their only hope. Without a tail, he’s worthless to the hunters and their wizard masters. If he can escape, he can find help for his pack. All he has to do is locate the Wise One and retrieve the Deep Magic.
Which would be hard enough even if he still had the magical tail sense his kind are born with. But what choice does he have? If he doesn’t take the risk, his pack will lose everything. And because Kywah knows exactly how that feels, he can’t let it happen.
Excerpt:
I woke. Heart beating too fast. Darkness smothering me. The same nightmare.
I shifted and felt the familiar throb of pain along my stub, which always ached when I first awakened. For an instant I tried to fool myself that it had only been a dream, but when I was brave enough to peek, I saw the empty space where my tail should be. Almost four seasons had passed, and I was still unaccustomed to its loss.
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This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Tails
Author: W J Scott
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 23
Stats
Editing: 9/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Content: 10/10
Cover: 10/10
Of the 23 readers:
22 would read another book by this author.
23 thought the cover was good or excellent.
23 felt it was easy to follow.
23 would recommend this story to another reader to try.
13 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
10 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
22 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
23 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
‘I loved the plot of a young silvertail being the hero of the story, particularly as he has a disability. Very clever.’ Girl, aged 14
‘Tons of excitement and danger. I loved the cover sooooo much too. Kywah is a cool character although I don’t know how to say his name.’ Boy, aged 12
‘Interesting story. The setting was well-described as was the characters. I liked the adventure he went on. It’s good when an adventure story has lots of twists which this book has. I understood all of the story and I would happily read another book by this writer.’ Girl, aged 14
‘The hunters were nasty. I think this story is a metaphor for hunting animals such as elephants for tusks. If only all the animals could fight back like this silvertail. Excellent cover.’ Boy, aged 14
To Sum It Up:
‘A magical story that children will love; and probably adults too. A FINALIST and highly recommended.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. WJ Scott is a great author and I’m sure has fans throughout the world. This book grabs you immediately and you are hooked for the long haul to see what adventures await the characters.
This book is written for young and old alike as the reader will enjoy the exciting tales but also will cause one to reflect on his own life and how he or she can make personal improvements in interacting with those he or she encounters.
I think that’s what the bottom line is in a book that is enjoyable , hard to put down but also causes one to be reflective in their life.
Kudos indeed for WJ Scott for achieving those goals for me and hopefully for all those who read this book as well. Job indeed is well done!
“Tails” is a children’s fantasy book for the 9-12 age group, but is for adults, too. I’m already of fan of Ms. Scott, so I went into reading this with high expectations. I wasn’t disappointed! “Tails” takes us to a place where magic is hard to come by, and the wizards have lost their power. That all changes when a hunter, Samsa captures Kywah, a silvertail and cuts his tail off which has magic in it. The silvertails were thought to be extinct and this renews the interest in ‘harvesting’ them. The hunters set out to find the pack, so they can sell the tails and fur to the wizards who want to recapture their powers. Kywah, who is considered handicapped among his pack, leaves on a journey to find the ‘Wise One’ to prevent the killing for greed and power. He does this without the senses his tail provided. I loved the relationships Kywah made along the way, especially with the dog Buster-Boy. This is the first of the series–I can’t wait for the second book! If you love a story with magic, adventure, wizards, hunters, fairies, bravery, friendship and a journey you’ll love this book! I highly recommend “Tails” and would give it six stars if I could.