Lion on the Run

by Marian Rumsey

Book Overview

A twelve-year-old boy tries to return the mountain lion he's raised from a cub to her native habitat in the Idaho mountains. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068820063X
• ISBN13: 9780688200633
• Release Date: January 1973
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 159 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An engaging coming-of-age story of a boy and his pet cougar.

The young son of a park ranger convinces his father to let him keep an orphaned mountain lion kitten. The story follows the many adjustments the boy has to make, as his father insists that Larry be responsible for his new pet, who he has named "Pepper". Larry works long and hard on the high, wooden fence that has to be erected around the family's property, and almost falters under the weight of the enormous responsibility that keeping a wild animal as a pet entails. Pepper soon grows into a large, but lovable pet. She is so tame that Larry even takes her for walks on his bike. Some of the neighbors are nervous, however, at the presence of such a large predator. Most keep quiet about their concerns until one day Pepper escapes. Although she does no real harm, the neighborhood is in a general uproar as the confused mountain lion scampers this way and that, searching for shelter from all of the voices, cars and commotion. Scared, and harassed by a neighborhood dog, Pepper resorts to instinct and climbs a lighting post alongside a nearby baseball diamond. The post is over 100 feet high, and tension rises as Larry's father attempts to rescue her. Following this adventure, the local community threaten's to have Pepper euthanized, and Larry, by now a young teen, makes a bold decision to run away and take Pepper up into the mountains where she was born and re-introduce her into the wild. Can this tame, overgrown housecat re-learn the killing instincts she'll need to survive in the wild? Can Larry keep them both alive long enough for her to learn? And will he be able to walk away from the pet he so dearly loves? This book made a lasting impression on me as a young boy, and began my life-long fascination with mountain lions. I highly recommend this book, if you can find it, to anyone who has ever marveled at the regal majesty and sleek allure of these remarkable cats, and also to anyone who has loved and lost their first pet. Although aimed at the "young adult" market, it is well written, and the story moves at a good pace, picking up speed as Pepper and Larry both reach adolescence, and finally, maturity. All in all, a very memorable book.