In the mountains near Satchel’s home a wild animal is focused on survival: finding its next meal and securing a safe place to sleep. In a narrative that moves back and forth between the life of Satchel—a young man in his early twenties struggling to break free from his oppressive life—and the life of this unknown animal, Sonya Hartnett offers serious questions, extraordinary possibilities, and provocative mysteries to consider. Satchel knows that his future is dependent on leaving his difficult home life and economically depressed Australian town. But he can’t bring himself to go, despite his mother’s encouragement. Meanwhile, an acquaintance of Satchel’s named Chelsea has seen the animal in the mountains and she’s convinced it’s a thylacine: a wolflike marsupial native to Tasmania. The only problem: thylacines are thought to be extinct, and Chelsea, whose own life hasn’t been easy, may just need something to believe in. Chelsea has done some research and it’s improbable, but not impossible, that she’s right. When the wild animal and Satchel eventually meet at a moment of crisis in Satchel’s life, the encounter is transformative. Satchel’s outlook—on himself, his life, and even humanity—has shifted just enough that he can see hope where he saw none before. Hartnett is a breathtaking writer, with a gift for language and insight that makes this story, even at its darkest moments, something beautiful to read. (Age 14 and older)