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The Hermit
Eleven year old Danny was hoping to have a simple, fun summer, but his plans are derailed when developers threaten to build condos on his community’s beloved soccer field and when he cultivates an unexpected friendship with a hermit living in the nearby woods. Further uncovered secrets might just help Danny save the soccer field once and for all.
- GenresCanada
173 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2020
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 11, 2020
A great book for kids and those of us who think like kids. I loved this book. When Danny and his friends discover a hermit living in the woods, they are intrigued. Danny is determined to find out more about him. He also needs to find a way to stop land developers from building condos on the soccer field. Plenty of action, believable characters and real-life situations. The kidspeak was perfect. I liked the main character, Danny, kids will identify with him. The events unfold in a timely fashion with a satisfying ending, and there is a loveable dog in it! I highly recommend this book.
August 26, 2021
This title is nominated for the 2022 Hackmatack Award in the English Fiction category. Our protagonist Danny is looking forward to summer and all the things that come along with it, from playing soccer to exploring the nearby forest. He certainly wasn't expecting to stumble upon an strange man in the woods! Things really start to get interesting when Danny gets a good look at the stranger and notices that he looks familiar...
I really liked all of the characters in this story - Danny's parents & Grampy, his best friend Ben, and even Teddy the turbulent. I especially loved that the kids were written in a way that I could relate to as a child of the early 90s, but still feels true. Wandering through the woods was one of my favourite pastimes as a child and it warms my heart to think that there are still kids doing that instead of being cooped up inside on electronic devices. There was just enough drama that the story got exciting without being scary, and it had a very satisfying ending. I would recommend this to fans of adventure stories, grade four and up.
I really liked all of the characters in this story - Danny's parents & Grampy, his best friend Ben, and even Teddy the turbulent. I especially loved that the kids were written in a way that I could relate to as a child of the early 90s, but still feels true. Wandering through the woods was one of my favourite pastimes as a child and it warms my heart to think that there are still kids doing that instead of being cooped up inside on electronic devices. There was just enough drama that the story got exciting without being scary, and it had a very satisfying ending. I would recommend this to fans of adventure stories, grade four and up.
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December 9, 2020My daughter and I really enjoyed this. I reviewed it at https://atlanticbooks.ca/blogs/news/c....
March 12, 2021
The Hermit by Jan L. Coates, Nimbus Publishing, MG
Eleven-year-old Danny was hoping to have a simple, fun summer, but his plans are derailed when developers threaten to build condos on his community’s beloved soccer field and when he cultivates an unexpected friendship with a hermit living in the nearby woods. Further uncovered secrets might just help Danny save the soccer field once and for all.
This novel starts out annoying and ends up engaging. It took me awhile to warm up to (or learn to put up with) one character’s fondness for outdated, unlikely expressions (crazy crapdoodles, dangling dingleberries, Holy Flippers, Holy Horse Apples, Codswallops), and loser jokes. I guess we’re supposed to think they’re so corny and outrageous they’re funny, but that didn’t work for me.
What won me over was the tension, the solid plot line and the authenticity of a true outdoor adventure.
I press my chin to the ground and watch his laser eyes gradually zeroing in on me and Ben. When he picks up the axe and starts marching toward the bank below us, I grab my hat and backpack and jump up.
“What do you think you’re doing, you sneaky varmints? Get off my property!”
I was especially impressed with the boys’ resourcefulness in a deep-woods emergency by stripping off their jeans and making a stretcher out of sticks pulled through the pant-legs.
Weaknesses: Unfortunately, a sympathetic grandfather pops into the story at a key time, then seems to disappear altogether. (He also uses the phrase “in the family way” – something I have my doubts today’s preteens would actually understand.) Soccer is talked about way more than actually shown. I managed to guess the ending halfway through, though it’s true that kids might not. And Danny’s father seems unrealistically unfazed by learning a big family secret. Also, the hermit saves the day after no more than a moment’s thought, something that could have been drawn out for a little more authenticity.
But it’s still a fun and well-paced adventure with realistic characters.
Eleven-year-old Danny was hoping to have a simple, fun summer, but his plans are derailed when developers threaten to build condos on his community’s beloved soccer field and when he cultivates an unexpected friendship with a hermit living in the nearby woods. Further uncovered secrets might just help Danny save the soccer field once and for all.
This novel starts out annoying and ends up engaging. It took me awhile to warm up to (or learn to put up with) one character’s fondness for outdated, unlikely expressions (crazy crapdoodles, dangling dingleberries, Holy Flippers, Holy Horse Apples, Codswallops), and loser jokes. I guess we’re supposed to think they’re so corny and outrageous they’re funny, but that didn’t work for me.
What won me over was the tension, the solid plot line and the authenticity of a true outdoor adventure.
I press my chin to the ground and watch his laser eyes gradually zeroing in on me and Ben. When he picks up the axe and starts marching toward the bank below us, I grab my hat and backpack and jump up.
“What do you think you’re doing, you sneaky varmints? Get off my property!”
I was especially impressed with the boys’ resourcefulness in a deep-woods emergency by stripping off their jeans and making a stretcher out of sticks pulled through the pant-legs.
Weaknesses: Unfortunately, a sympathetic grandfather pops into the story at a key time, then seems to disappear altogether. (He also uses the phrase “in the family way” – something I have my doubts today’s preteens would actually understand.) Soccer is talked about way more than actually shown. I managed to guess the ending halfway through, though it’s true that kids might not. And Danny’s father seems unrealistically unfazed by learning a big family secret. Also, the hermit saves the day after no more than a moment’s thought, something that could have been drawn out for a little more authenticity.
But it’s still a fun and well-paced adventure with realistic characters.
September 20, 2022
I enjoyed this story so very much. It covers adventure. Friendship. Human nature. Historical social acceptance that results in damaging family secrets. The deep long term traumatic affects of teasing and bullying. Wrap that all up with wonderful sarcastic pre-teen humour and the easy smooth writing flow of the author. Result is a touching story with some adventure and a mystery and a wonderful feel good ending. Highly recommend this story for middle school readers.
January 19, 2021
This was a very entertaining, fast-paced read full of adventures, family secrets, and unusual friendships.
Loosely based on the real-life Hermit From Gully Lake, Danny, an eleven-year-old boy finds a familiar-looking old man living in the woods. At the same time, he and his friends have to save their spectacular soccer field, the community worked so hard to create, from some land developers wanting to use that land to build a bunch of eyesore condos.
Without giving away the story in this captivating page-turner, I will say Danny and his friends are easy to identify with and the ending was especially enjoyable.
Loosely based on the real-life Hermit From Gully Lake, Danny, an eleven-year-old boy finds a familiar-looking old man living in the woods. At the same time, he and his friends have to save their spectacular soccer field, the community worked so hard to create, from some land developers wanting to use that land to build a bunch of eyesore condos.
Without giving away the story in this captivating page-turner, I will say Danny and his friends are easy to identify with and the ending was especially enjoyable.
July 12, 2022
This was a really satisfying read and more touching than I had expected. I liked the character development and the layers of the story - the soccer field, the hermit, the family connections - kept me interested. Some of Ben’s quirky sayings got a little tired for me, but I could see younger readers (9-11) getting a kick out of them. The ending was a tad tidy and rushed, but preteen readers wouldn’t mind that. I liked Coates’ writing for the most part and will read more of her books to recommend to upper elementary-middle school students.
January 14, 2021
My 12 year old son read this book and loved it so much that he told me to read it. I have to agree, it is a great book. 4.5 stars!
November 29, 2023
Julia's review:
This book follows our main character Danny and his friends as they try to have the best summer ever. They plan on doing lots of swimming and bike rides and the occasional game of washers with his grandfather but when everything changes he must be adept to understand and stop what’s happening. This book is loosely based on the “ Hermit of Gully Lake. Not only is this book set in Nova Scotia but the Author and Publisher is also from Nova Scotia.
I thought this book was okay, the characters I liked a lot but I found the book hard to read at times. My favourite part was when Danny first finds the Hermit and is surprised. I could visualize most parts of this book.
🌟🌟🌟.5 /5 stars
This book follows our main character Danny and his friends as they try to have the best summer ever. They plan on doing lots of swimming and bike rides and the occasional game of washers with his grandfather but when everything changes he must be adept to understand and stop what’s happening. This book is loosely based on the “ Hermit of Gully Lake. Not only is this book set in Nova Scotia but the Author and Publisher is also from Nova Scotia.
I thought this book was okay, the characters I liked a lot but I found the book hard to read at times. My favourite part was when Danny first finds the Hermit and is surprised. I could visualize most parts of this book.
🌟🌟🌟.5 /5 stars
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews