WILDOAK

WILDOAK by C.C. Harrington

WILDOAK is the beautiful story of a girl named Maggie Stephens who suffers from a debilitating stutter and her need to find her place of acceptance in the world. After having been transferred to multiple schools, her dad is done. He's decided it's time to send her to Granville Place, a sanatorium rumored to have all types of "treatments" for conditions like Maggie's. Thankfully, Maggie's mother intervenes and suggests a respite with Maggie's grandfather, a country doctor/inventor, who lives on the borders of an old growth forest called WILDOAK. Unbeknownst to anyone, Wildoak has recently received a unique inhabitant: a snow leopard gifted to a wealthy woman that turned out to be too much for her to handle. When Maggie spots the misplaced creature during her playtime outside, her grandfather doesn't believe her, but then the tales in the village begin to grow about a "monster" and livestock are found gutted. Clearly, something's going on in the woods, and Maggie, who freezes up whenever she needs to speak, is going to have to find her voice this time.

HEADS UP- One or two passing references to Maggie feeling "connected" to Wildoak. One "cruel as hell" comment about a trap set to catch the snow leopard.