It doesn't seem like a Stephanie book (where are the girls for one thing) but it struck me. There he meets the strange Early Auden and as events transpire, they end up in the forest for some time searching for something. This book was first brought to my attention by some Waiting on Wednesday posts and I was captured by the description of young Jack forced to move from Kansas to Maine after the death of his mother and enrolled in a boy's boarding school. Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Random House for the arc I received from them. And finally it is a story of the connection we all have to each other, connecting the dots - just as navigators do when using the stars as their guide. What it means to be a friend and also accept the friendship of someone else. This truly is a story of forgiveness and finding those who are lost while trying to find yourself in the process. Pirates, lost souls, a great black bear and star navigating are among what they encounter and discover. Their journey involves Early's story of the number pi and finding what is lost.

The boys are hooked together through a variety of circumstances and go on a quest along the Appalachian Trail. Early is classified as strange, although in today's world he would probably be diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Jack is a transplant from Kansas, having moved to the school after the death of his mother, while his dad serves in the Navy. It revolves around Jack Baker and Early Auden, two boys at a boarding school in Maine at the end of World War II.

What an amazing, very unique, yet poignant story.

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool