A chance encounter with an old llama astonishingly reveals a language Allen didn’t know he could speak in this captivating and one-of-a-kind middle-grade novel.
For fans of Katherine Applegate and the beloved classic Hatchet, comes an emotionally driven, magical-realism, outdoor survival story for 9-12-year-old readers. Now available in paperback!

11-year-old Allen has a recurring nightmare, a persistent habit of humming, and difficulty connecting with other people. Making a fresh start, he and his grandmother move to a small village in northern New York. But when he meets an old llama at a winter festival, the encounter reveals a language Allen didn’t know he could speak and unveils repressed memories that contradict what he has long believed about his earliest years and his parents’ deaths.

When the llama’s life is threatened, Allen vows to free it. Together they begin a desperate trek through a snowy wilderness, a journey on which Allen must wrestle with lies about his past while struggling against the elements to survive.

A fast-paced novel that’s both emotionally captivating and steeped in survival, Hum is sure to resonate with middle-grade readers.