“IN THE WILD LIGHT” by Jeff Zentner (Crown Books for Young Readers, 432 pages, $18).
“My life is small and simple, but it’s a better one than I ever thought I’d have,” explains Cash Pruitt, protagonist of Jeff Zentner’s fourth novel, “In the Wild Light.” “I have what I love: my grandparents, the satisfaction of working with my hands to bring a lawn into perfect order, the rhythm of paddling my canoe.”
But Cash’s life was not always simple, and before he met his best friend, Delany Doyle, he struggled alone to fit in. When the two friends make an important scientific discovery, they’re faced with a different kind of struggle: Will they stay in Sawyer, Tennessee, forever, hanging on to the semblance of stability they’ve found? Or will they risk it all for a different life?
Cash Pruitt and Delaney Doyle met at a Narateen meeting in middle school, initially bonding over their respective mothers’ addictions. Now juniors in high school, they have things pretty much figured out. They’ve successfully avoided the social pitfalls of high school, watching TV with Cash’s Pawpaw and canoeing on weekends. They have summer jobs, one of which supplies free ice cream. Their lives are moving on as swiftly as the water in their beloved Pigeon River.
But Delaney has a hunch that there is something special in the caves of Sawyer. No, it’s more than a hunch – her innate ability to recognize patterns and her voracious appetite for learning lead her to believe that the caves hold invaluable scientific treasure. And she’s right: On one of their exploring expeditions, the two friends discover a powerful strain of mold with antibiotic properties, a feat that eventually earns them both scholarships to Middleford Academy, a northeastern prep school.