• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Is Robin brave enough to do what’s right when everyone thinks she’s wrong?
No one is more passionate about rescuing hurt animals than Robin, except maybe her best friend Zo-Zo, who helps Robin run the family’s animal shelter, The Wild Place. When the two of them discover that a neighbour’s chicken farm is really a factory farm, they both want to stop it. Zo-Zo argues that radical action is required, but Robin is worried about getting into trouble with her dad, or even worse, the local sheriff. Is it ever okay to break the law to stand up for what you believe in? And if it is, how will she find the courage to do what’s right, even when others think she’s wrong?

Karen Hood-Caddy was born in Toronto and educated at Toronto schools. Although she lived in the city as a child, she spent her summers and as many weekends as possible at the family cottage in Muskoka. Her love of the wilderness and particularly of the Muskoka region of Ontario developed early and greatly influenced her entire life. Karen graduated from York University, where she was vice-president of the student’s council, with a degree in sociology. She began her career as a social worker in Toronto, but after several years, feeling jaded and burnt-out, she moved to Scotland. There she lived for seven years at the Findhorn Institute, an international spiritual community, where she was soon leading workshops in meditation and self-empowerment. Her experiences there and her extensive travels throughout India, Greece, Central Europe, Ireland, Morocco and the United States have proven to be important influences in her writing. As a writer, Karen has had poems, short stories and articles published in Canada, the United States and Scotland, but her real passion is for reading and writing novels. A few years ago, John Robert Columbo stated in the Globe and Mail that Karen Hood-Caddy was ”a writer to keep an eye on“. Karen currently lives in Muskoka. She still loves the wilderness and believes passionately in the importance of the preservation of our environment. The fact that she is able to live and work in Muskoka, one of the most beautiful regions in Canada, provides her with a continuing source of satisfaction and happiness.

Karen Hood-Caddy's profile page

Although The Truth about Brave is a novel full of troubled children, Hood-Caddy does a good job resolving these serious issues in a realistic way.

Canadian Materials