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 rely on a brother he’s never met, can Nick survive the unforgiving Arctic and the monster that hunts them?

• Wilderness Survival: After a rafting trip disaster, Nick and Ryan are left stranded without supplies on the remote Firth River, forced to fight the elements and their own fears.
• Estranged Brothers: Nick is an Inuit hunter; his half-brother Ryan is a photographer from Arizona he’s never met. They’ll have to overcome their differences and learn to trust each other to stay alive.
• Man vs. Nature: A terrifying "grolar bear"—part grizzly, part polar bear—stalks them through the tundra, a monstrous hunter with no fear of man.
• Coming of Age Adventure: A gripping story for teens that explores themes of family, heritage, and what it truly means to never say die in the face of impossible odds.

A Bear like no other . . .

An accomplished Inuit hunter at fifteen, Nick Thrasher is about to bring home a caribou when he loses the meat to a fearsome creature never before seen in the wild. It's half grizzly, half polar bear. Wildlife experts will soon be calling it a "grolar bear."

Back home in his Arctic village, Nick receives a letter from Ryan Powers, the half brother he has never met. On assignment for National Geographic, Ryan is coming north to photograph migrating caribou, and proposes Nick join him on a raft trip down the remote Firth River. Their adventure is barely underway when both are thrown into the freezing river, under a ceiling of solid ice. With nothing but Nick's knife and the clothes on their backs, Nick and Ryan fight to survive in a world of caribou, wolves, and grizzlies. All the while, the dreaded 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