Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, (2008). First edition - A powerful collaboration between this award winning children's author and world-reknowned artist. "A story-within-the-story that explores the means of handling grief -after Blue Bakers father dies, his school counselor tries to get him to write down and explore his feelings. Instead, he secretly starts writing and drawing a story about a feral boy living alone in the woods. Blues story - which slashes into the narrative, the moody and ragged artwork a mirror for Blues inner turmoil - is interspersed with his struggle to cope with the loss of his father, run-ins with a bully, and difficulty reaching out to his mother and younger sister. The savage in his story is a violent, languageless creature who chases down, kills, and eats people who get too close. The line separating Blue and his imaginary savage becomes increasingly blurred." (Booklist) 79 pp.