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Legend Keepers: The Partnership
Legend Keepers: The Partnership is Bruce Smith's riveting sequel to the award-winning Legend Keepers: The Chosen One.
Can the answer to a simple science question change your life? For Garson Strangewalker, yes!
In this second book in the Legend Keepers series, twelve-year-old Garson doesn't fit in at school. He's in a new community, hasn't made friends, and, worse yet, his father has gone missing during combat operations in Afghanistan. Each day's a struggle until a simple question he asks at the spring science fair sparks an interest in glaciers. He reads about them but can't get enough.
For his sixth-grade science project, Garson climbs to the Shining Mountain Glacier in the wilderness not far from his home. His chance encounter with Buddy, a remarkable kid mountain goat, changes everything as these two kids' lives become entwined. Their shared alarm over the Great Warming's threat to the glacier, and to Buddy's mountaintop home, transforms an introverted boy into an environmental advocate.
Sometimes it takes a partnership to bring out the best in us.
Suggested reading age: 8-12 years
Can the answer to a simple science question change your life? For Garson Strangewalker, yes!
In this second book in the Legend Keepers series, twelve-year-old Garson doesn't fit in at school. He's in a new community, hasn't made friends, and, worse yet, his father has gone missing during combat operations in Afghanistan. Each day's a struggle until a simple question he asks at the spring science fair sparks an interest in glaciers. He reads about them but can't get enough.
For his sixth-grade science project, Garson climbs to the Shining Mountain Glacier in the wilderness not far from his home. His chance encounter with Buddy, a remarkable kid mountain goat, changes everything as these two kids' lives become entwined. Their shared alarm over the Great Warming's threat to the glacier, and to Buddy's mountaintop home, transforms an introverted boy into an environmental advocate.
Sometimes it takes a partnership to bring out the best in us.
Suggested reading age: 8-12 years
218 pages, Paperback
Published August 30, 2022
1 person is currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Bruce L. Smith
9 books6 followersBruce Smith is a wildlife biologist who holds a PhD degree in Zoology. During his career with the federal government, he studied and managed most large mammal species that roam the western United States. He’s authored five nonfiction books of natural history, conservation, and outdoor adventure. Among them is Life on the Rocks: A Portrait of the Mountain Goat, which won the National Outdoor Book Award.
In his middle-grade novel series, Legend Keepers, Bruce draws upon his experiences and fascination with wild animals to stir the imaginations of young readers and immerse them in the natural world. Bruce and his wife Diana live in southwest Montana not far from mountain goats. Visit him at www.brucesmithwildlife.com
In his middle-grade novel series, Legend Keepers, Bruce draws upon his experiences and fascination with wild animals to stir the imaginations of young readers and immerse them in the natural world. Bruce and his wife Diana live in southwest Montana not far from mountain goats. Visit him at www.brucesmithwildlife.com
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 30, 2022
Title: Legend Keepers: The Partnership
Author: Bruce Smith
Publisher: Hidden Shelf Publishing House
2022
This book is the sequel to Legend Keepers: The Chosen One, an excellent book I enjoyed reading last year. Again, author Bruce Smith, a very talented writer, naturalist and retired wildlife biologist (if there is such a thing), has crafted a charming and intriguing story for children that the whole family can share.
In Legend Keepers: The Partnership, Smith offers young readers another engaging tale of the Mountain Goat learning about the mountains she is tied to, the other animals she shares that world with, and her changing environment. Once again much natural history and animal biology and behavior is effortlessly presented. In addition, a human element is added by introducing a boy and his own community of family and friends who learn more about mountains, glaciers, and mountain wildlife. Finally, concepts of basic science are also introduced. The interactions of nature, humans and science are beautifully intertwined.
Younger readers and their parents will enjoy this story, and have the opportunity to absorb many lessons that will help inform their lives ahead. And again, the mountains and their unique world are admirably portrayed by Smith’s writing. I highly recommend this book for readers interested in nature, wildlife and climate issues in our rapidly changing world.
Carl D. Mitchell, Wildlife Biologist, retired.
Author: Bruce Smith
Publisher: Hidden Shelf Publishing House
2022
This book is the sequel to Legend Keepers: The Chosen One, an excellent book I enjoyed reading last year. Again, author Bruce Smith, a very talented writer, naturalist and retired wildlife biologist (if there is such a thing), has crafted a charming and intriguing story for children that the whole family can share.
In Legend Keepers: The Partnership, Smith offers young readers another engaging tale of the Mountain Goat learning about the mountains she is tied to, the other animals she shares that world with, and her changing environment. Once again much natural history and animal biology and behavior is effortlessly presented. In addition, a human element is added by introducing a boy and his own community of family and friends who learn more about mountains, glaciers, and mountain wildlife. Finally, concepts of basic science are also introduced. The interactions of nature, humans and science are beautifully intertwined.
Younger readers and their parents will enjoy this story, and have the opportunity to absorb many lessons that will help inform their lives ahead. And again, the mountains and their unique world are admirably portrayed by Smith’s writing. I highly recommend this book for readers interested in nature, wildlife and climate issues in our rapidly changing world.
Carl D. Mitchell, Wildlife Biologist, retired.
January 15, 2023
In this second book of the Legend Keepers series, Dr. Bruce Smith continues his tale of Buddy, the gifted young mountain goat who is determined to lead her band to refuge from ‘The Great Warming’. Buddy’s quest for security brings her to a surprise encounter with Garson, a 12-yr-old boy who is studying the retreat of mountain glaciers for a middle-school science project. To her surprise – and the boy’s – Buddy and Garson are able to communicate and share concerns. While The Partnership features several of the delightful animal characters developed in Smith’s first book (The Chosen One) what really stood out for me in this book were the Legend’s parallels with traditional human storytelling and how ecological knowledge handed down over generations can enhance lessons from modern science. Like the first book, this one is packed with fascinating natural history details for young and adult readers, and I think many in the reading audience will relish Smith’s humor and how well The Partnership depicts the mind of middle school-aged students. The environmental messaging is consistent from the first book without being preachy. I highly recommend it to young readers, as it is they who will have to adapt to, and hopefully resolve, the impacts of climate change, natural resource use, and other vexing socio-ecological challenges.
September 1, 2022
Legend Keepers: The Partnership is the much anticipated second book for young readers and their families by author Bruce Smith. Following Legend Keepers: The Chosen One, this story introduces Garson, an energetic and curious Montana boy who develops an interest in the natural world that surrounds his Rocky Mountain home.
Buddy, the intrepid mountain goat kid that lives in the alpine zone high above Garson’s town, meets Garson and shows him other wildlife in the habitat that defines the rugged mountains that were recently unknown to the boy. Garson’s mother, Lucy, and school teachers mentor him as he also learns how to weave his newfound passion for the outdoors into his school work.
Several of Garson’s diverse classmates play important roles.
The character development in this second Legend Keepers book is excellent as author Smith expands the story’s scope to include the excitement of discovery, a youngster’s maturing awareness of his diverse social and environmental surroundings, and some contemporary issues that all readers will recognize.
Young readers and their families will eagerly look forward to the next Legend Keepers.
Buddy, the intrepid mountain goat kid that lives in the alpine zone high above Garson’s town, meets Garson and shows him other wildlife in the habitat that defines the rugged mountains that were recently unknown to the boy. Garson’s mother, Lucy, and school teachers mentor him as he also learns how to weave his newfound passion for the outdoors into his school work.
Several of Garson’s diverse classmates play important roles.
The character development in this second Legend Keepers book is excellent as author Smith expands the story’s scope to include the excitement of discovery, a youngster’s maturing awareness of his diverse social and environmental surroundings, and some contemporary issues that all readers will recognize.
Young readers and their families will eagerly look forward to the next Legend Keepers.
September 26, 2022
Part Two of Bruce Smith’s enjoyable Legend Keepers series continues with the story of Buddy, an orphaned female mountain goat, and introduces us to Garson, an awkward but earnest 6th grader whose science project involves a rigorous and adventuresome hike up Shining Mountain to take scientific measurements of a shrinking glacier at the top.
Smith’s tale is filled with all sorts of interesting observations about mountain goats and their alpine habitat, told in a way that is accessible to us human readers. Passage of time is marked not by days but by “sleeps”. The high elevation is described as “Where the mountains touch the sky”.
But more than an engaging read, Legend Keepers: The Partnership creates a sobering lesson about how climate change is damaging the mountain goat’s habitat, a fact that should be a concern to everyone. As one of the characters says: “What affects one goat, or one band, affects us all.”
Without being heavy-handed, the author ultimately delivers a powerful message for young readers: taking care of our planet is a shared responsibility, and we all need to do our part.
Smith’s tale is filled with all sorts of interesting observations about mountain goats and their alpine habitat, told in a way that is accessible to us human readers. Passage of time is marked not by days but by “sleeps”. The high elevation is described as “Where the mountains touch the sky”.
But more than an engaging read, Legend Keepers: The Partnership creates a sobering lesson about how climate change is damaging the mountain goat’s habitat, a fact that should be a concern to everyone. As one of the characters says: “What affects one goat, or one band, affects us all.”
Without being heavy-handed, the author ultimately delivers a powerful message for young readers: taking care of our planet is a shared responsibility, and we all need to do our part.
September 4, 2022
What a pleasure it was to read Legend Keepers: The Partnership. This children’s novel is a sequel to The Chosen One, a novel about Buddy, a mountain goat kid, who learns of the impacts of global warming on life on the once cold and icy mountain peaks of North America. In The Partnership Buddy meets Garson, a twelve-year old boy who is hiking on Shining Mountain to complete a science project. Garson is climbing Shining Mountain to measure and photograph a shrinking glacier. The young mountain goat teaches the boy what is happening to wildlife adapted to living on our cold, high mountain peaks, as our planet warms and its glaciers melt. The boy’s adventures introduce the reader to the basics of data collection and analysis, using maps, measuring tape, photographs, altimeter and compass to document the shrinking glacier. This well-written, well-edited, novel by Dr. Smith is as fun reading as his first, and now both novels happily sit on the shelves of my grandson’s library.
September 2, 2022
As a science-lover, outdoorswoman and mother of 9, 11 and 13 year old children, I enthusiastically recommend Legend Keepers: The Partnership. Both adults and youngsters will love following Buddy on her journey. This second book in the Legend Keepers series introduces us to a number of new characters of the human variety. We meet Garson and witness his youthful passion for glaciers and how the alpine landscape is changing. Garson and Buddy become a team. Garson is quite relatable to many children as he navigates a new school as well as difficulties at home. As a wildlife biologist, Bruce Smith is able to masterfully develop interesting characters while teaching us about mountain goats and their threatened alpine habitat. I can't wait to read the third book!
September 29, 2022
I and my 11-year-old read Partnership, the second book in author Bruce Smith’s Legend Keepers series, because we really enjoyed its predecessor, The Chosen One. We wanted to see what came next for the amazing Buddy, a young Mountain Goat with special powers, and the community of alpine animals she interacts with. This intertwines the stories of animals we met previously with Buddy and a boy, Garson Strangewalker, who is undertaking a science project. The book is a great introduction to 5- to 14-year-olds to the most important topic of our time, climate change. We really enjoyed the development of the characters, their interactions, and the challenges that they faced. In short, we are hooked and we can’t wait for The Promise, book 3 in the Legend Keepers series.
September 4, 2022
A very engaging sequel, and timely not only due to ever more urgent climate change news, but also because of the many bridges the book makes: animal-human, old-young, hope-despair, ignorance-action, science-myth. And you will see others too, and take heart in these difficult times. As in The Chosen One, the rich details about high elevation habitats and creatures delighted me. I think this would be fun for a parent to read at the same time as a young reader, as a topic for dinner or driving conversations. It is hard to keep the ideas to oneself! The cover art was more endearing and communicative every time I picked up the book. I can’t wait to see how the next sequel unfolds.
September 5, 2022
The Partnership is not about Bruce Smith and John Grisham . But the two have one thing in common. They both write books that you can’t put down once you start reading them. And when Bruce starts making the best seller lists as he deserves to, the two of them will have have something else in common. as they will both be best selling authors.
Buy this book for yourself, your children and your grandchildren . You won’t be disappointed.
Can’t wait for the next book in The Legend Keepers series.
Buy this book for yourself, your children and your grandchildren . You won’t be disappointed.
Can’t wait for the next book in The Legend Keepers series.
October 24, 2022
In his second book in the Legend Keepers series, Bruce Smith brings into focus Buddy discoveries and destiny; and how they are entwined with our own lives and destiny. In The Partnership, we meet Garson Strangewalker who takes us along on his journey as well. We discover the world anew, through his eyes and experiences. On some level, we can all relate to Garson's challenges and to his accomplishments. This is a fast paced, although very tightly packed, story. You wont want to put it down until the end. And then you will be anxious for this third, follow up book to come.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews