Never Say Die

In this fast-paced adventure story set in the Canadian arctic, fifteen-year-old Inuit hunter Nick Thrasher comes face-to-face with a fearsome creature on a routine caribou hunt gone wrong. Part grizzly, part polar bear, this environmental mutant has been pegged the “grolar bear” by wildlife experts. Nick may have escaped this time, but it won’t be his last encounter.

Then Nick’s estranged half-brother, Ryan, offers to take him on a rafting trip down a remote part of the Firth River. But when disaster strikes, the two narrowly evade death. They’re left stranded without supplies—and then the grolar bear appears. Will Hobbs brings his singular style to this suspenseful story about two brothers fighting for survival against the unpredictable—and sometimes deadly—whims of nature.

Forced to trust the stranger he calls a brother, can Nick survive the unforgiving arctic—and the monster hunting them?

• Stranded in the Wild: After a rafting trip disaster on the remote Firth River, Nick and Ryan are left with no supplies, no way home, and a brutal arctic landscape to conquer.
• Estranged Brothers: Nick is a skilled Inuit hunter. Ryan is a photographer from Arizona. They share a father they barely knew, and now they must rely on each other to stay alive.
• An Unstoppable Monster: The grolar bear—a massive, unnatural hybrid of a grizzly and a polar bear—is more than just a random threat. It’s intelligent, relentless, and it has their scent.
• Action-Packed Adventure: A gripping wilderness thriller perfect for young adult readers who love outdoor adventures from authors like Gary Paulsen and Jean Craighead George.

When the motto of your village is "never say die," you have a lot to live up to. . . .

At home in Canada's Arctic, Nick Thrasher is an accomplished Inuit hunter at fifteen. About to bring home a caribou for his ailing grandfather, Nick loses the meat to a fearsome creature never before seen in the wild. It's half grizzly, half polar bear. Experts will soon be calling it a "grolar bear."

Returning to his village, Nick receives a letter from the half brother he's never met. A former Grand Canyon river guide, Ryan Powers is now a famous wildlife photographer. He'll soon be coming to Nick's part of the world to raft the remote Firth River in search of huge herds of migrating caribou. Ryan also wants to learn what Inuit hunters are saying about climate change in the Arctic. He invites Nick to come along and help him find the caribou.

Barely down the river, disaster strikes. Nick and Ryan are both thrown into the freezing river and find themselves under a ceiling of solid ice. With nothing but the clothes on his back and the knife on his hip, Nick is up against it in a world of wolves, caribou, and grizzlies. All the while, the monstrous grolar bear stalks the land.

Praise for LEAVING PROTECTION: “Hobbs’s nautical thriller brims with detail about the fishing life. Dramatic and fateful…grippingly rendered.” - Publishers Weekly

“Nonstop survival adventure.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Purpose driven survival tale…a plot lit up with extremes of privation and deadly danger.” - ALA Booklist

“Turbocharged wilderness survival story.” - Horn Book Magazine

“Exciting…The imagery is truly majestic. It will resonate with kids who have a healthy respect for the awesomeness of nature.” - School Library Journal