Review
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"What sets this book apart is the inclusion of fascinating details about the condors and hang gliding,
especially the action-packed description of Rick's first solo flight above the canyons . . . Many young readers will
find this an adventure story that they can't put down". SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
"What sets this book apart is the inclusion of fascinating details about the condors and hang gliding, especially
theaction-packed description of Rick's first solo flight above the canyons...Many young readers will find this an
adventure storythat they can't put down."--School Library Journal
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From the Publisher
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"What sets this book apart is the inclusion of fascinating details about the condors and hang gliding,
especially the action-packed description of Rick's first solo flight above the canyons...Many young readers will find
this an adventure story that they can't put down."
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From the Back Cover
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Just fourteen, Rick Walker is alone, on the run, and desperate. Stowing away in the back of a truck, he
suddenly finds himself at a dead end, out in the middle of nowhere. The Maze. In this surreal landscape of stark redrock
spires and deep sandstone canyons, Rick stumbles into the remote camp of Lon Peregrino, a bird biologist who is
releasing fledgling California condors back into the wild. Intrigued by the endangered condors and the strange bearded
man dedicated to saving them, Rick decides to stay on. When two men with a vicious dog drive up in a battered old
Humvee, Rick discovers that Lon and his birds are in grave danger. Will he be able to save them? In a heart-stopping
adventure infused with the spirit of the Icarus myth and a boy's dreams of flight, Will Hobbs brings readers a unique
tale of identity, personal growth, and friendship.
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About the Author
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Will Hobbs is the award-winning author of nineteen novels, including Far North, Crossing the Wire, and Take Me to the
River.
Never Say Die began with the author's eleven-day raft trip in 2003 down the Firth River on the north slope of Canada's
Yukon Territory. Ever since, Will has been closely following what scientists and Native hunters are reporting about
climate change in the Arctic. When the first grolar bear turned up in the Canadian Arctic, he began to imagine one in a
story set on the Firth River.
A graduate of Stanford University, Will lives with his wife, Jean, in Durango, Colorado.
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
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Chapter One
Rick Walker tried to swallow, but his mouth was too dry.
"The state of Nevada has a problem with you... " the judge began, then paused to glare at him over his reading glasses.
Rick Walker glanced at his social worker, seated beside him on his right. He wondered if the pause meant he was supposed
to answer. He wasn't sure what to make of this bald and bony-headed old man who was the judge. The sign on the door of
his courtroom said he was The Honorable Samuel L. Bendix. At the moment he seemed more hostile than honorable.
"Why?" the judge suddenly demanded.
Rick was confused. Why what? What was the judge asking him? Once again his eyes went to his social worker for help.
Janice Baker seemed confused too.
As Rick looked back toward the black robe, he felt his lip quiver. In an instant he forgot that his social worker had
warned him about the judge's "enormous discretionary power." He reverted to his instincts for dealing with powerful
adversaries: don't show fear, or you'll be eaten alive.
With a slight shrug he asked, "Why what?"
He saw the judge's skin flush red up and over his skull. "Why were you throwing the stones, repeatedly, at the stop
sign? Why would anyone throw more than thirty rocks at a stop sign?"
Rick knew he couldn't afford to say anything further that would get taken the wrong way. He hesitated, looking deep
inside for the real answer. That's what the judge wanted: the real answer.
His hesitation lengthened. Rick didn't know the real answer. The only thing he could think of was his grandmother dying.
Everything that went wrong happened because of that. But the judge wasn't going to accept excuses, especially something
that happened four years ago. Why was he throwing those rocks?
He didn't know the answer himself. It was all too confusing. All he could remember was being in a sort of trance. It had
happened only a few blocks from the group home, on his way from school. He didn't know he had thrown so many rocks. He
couldn't even remember what he'd been thinking about. "I don't know," he said at last.
"You don't knowthe judge repeated incredulously.
Rick tried his best. "It wasn't for any specific reason," he explained.
"Not for any reason.
The rising cadence of the judge's voice felt ominous. Rick unfolded his arms and put them down by his sides. "Just
general frustration, I guess," he managed.
The judge looked aside, put his fist to his chin, looked back at Rick. "General frustration is what I'm feeling right
now myself," the judge said. "Just this morning, over coffee, I read about two juveniles no older than you bludgeoning a
nine-year-old to death with a baseball bat. "
So? Rick thought. What does that have to do with me?
The judge paused. His eyes had drifted, unfocusing, to the floor. "So many with no conscience," he said as if to
himself. "A petty offender one day becomes a murderer the next. It didn't used to be like this."
The judge's eyes were suddenly back in focus and locked on Rick. "Didn't I tell you just six weeks ago that I didn't
want to see you in my courtroom ever again?"
"Yes," Rick agreed.
"Yes, Your Honor," his social worker said under her breath.
"Yes, Your Honor."
Rick felt so light-headed he thought he might faint. In the corner of his vision he was aware of a man in a
uniform coming up the side aisle. It was young Mike Brown, his probation officer, with his trim dark mustache and his
face blank like a robot's.
"Say you're sorry," Janice Baker whispered.
Rick glanced at her. He should have said it himself, before this. Now the judge was glaring worse than ever, knowing
he'd just been instructed to say he was sorry.
He couldn't, not now. Not when he was being forced to. He had a certain a of pride. What could the judge do to him
anyway? Janice Baker had told him about a place near Lake Tahoe for kids like him who'd gotten into a little bit of
trouble. It didn't sound so bad, being in the pine trees and the ains. It couldn't be much worse than the group
home he was in now in Reno. The couple running the group home was only doing it for the money. They didn't even care
enough to come to court with him.
His social worker appealed to Rick with a glance. He shook his head.
With a disapproving look at him, Janice Baker rose to her feet "Please take into account Your Honor, Rick's background.
He's only fourteen. In the last four years, he has lived in foster homes in Fresno, Stockton, Merced, and Sacramento,
California, as well as a foster home and a group home here in Reno. During that time he has been enrolled in six
different schools...
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