Sara Pennypacker Presents The Lion’s Run

Library Shop Mission Hills is so excited to welcome one of our favorite middle-grade novelists, Sara Pennypacker (Pax, Clementine) for her latest novel, The Lion’s Run! This WWII story follows the courage of a young animal lover living in France as he joins the Resistance.

This presentation will include an author talk with Sara Pennypacker, a Q&A and a book signing. While the book is geared towards middle-grade readers, readers of all ages are welcome and encouraged to attend! Proceeds from all book sales support the San Diego Public Library.

ABOUT THE BOOK

An orphan during WWII discovers unexpected courage within himself when he joins the Resistance. From the acclaimed author of the classic PAX. Perfect for fans of Katherine Applegate and Alan Gratz.

A NEW YORK TIMES AND INDIE BESTSELLER

***SIX STARRED REVIEWS***

Petit éclair. That’s what the other boys at the orphanage call Lucas DuBois. Lucas is tired of his cowardly reputation, just as he’s tired of the war and the Nazi occupation of his French village. He longs to show how brave he can be.

He gets the chance when he saves a litter of kittens from cruel boys and brings them to an abandoned stable to care for them. There he comes upon a stranger who is none too happy to see him: Alice, the daughter of a horse trainer, who is hiding her filly from German soldiers.

Soon Lucas begins to realize they are not the only ones in the village with secrets. The housekeeper at the German maternity home and a priest at the orphanage pass coded messages; a young mother at the home makes dangerous plans to keep her baby from forced adoption; and a neighbor in town may be harboring a Jewish family.

Emboldened by the unlikely heroes all around him, Lucas is forced to decide how much he is willing to risk to make the most courageous rescue of all.

“[A] marvelous work of historical fiction that also tackles war, justice, parental absence, and the potential to form life-changing bonds with animals. This page-turner packs plenty into its prose and plot, which are spare yet beautiful.… [T]hrilling and gut-punching.” BookPage

“Lucas DuBois is proof that a mere kitten can be the bravest of lions by always standing up for what’s right.” Alan Gratz, New York Times bestselling author of Refugee

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sara Pennypacker is the author of several acclaimed novels for middle-grade readers, including The Lions’ Run; the #1 New York Times bestselling Pax (a National Book Award Longlist title) and Pax, Journey Home; the Clementine series (Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor) and its spinoff series, Waylon; and Summer of the Gypsy Moths, Here in the Real World, and Leeva at Last. She divides her time between Cape Cod and Southern California.