Rion Kwirk comes from a rather odd family.
His mother named him and his sisters after her favorite constellations, and his father makes funky-flavored jelly beans for a living. One sister acts as if she’s always onstage, and the other is a walking dictionary. But no one in the family is more odd than Rion’s grandfather, Papa Kwirk. He’s the kind of guy who shows up on his motorcycle only on holidays, handing out crossbows and stuffed squirrels as presents. Rion has always been fascinated by Papa Kwirk. Which is why, when Rion and his family learn of Papa Kwirk’s death and pile into the car to attend his funeral and pay their respects, Rion can’t help but feel that that’s not the end of his story. That there’s so much more to Papa Kwirk to discover.
He doesn’t know how right he is.
His mother named him and his sisters after her favorite constellations, and his father makes funky-flavored jelly beans for a living. One sister acts as if she’s always onstage, and the other is a walking dictionary. But no one in the family is more odd than Rion’s grandfather, Papa Kwirk. He’s the kind of guy who shows up on his motorcycle only on holidays, handing out crossbows and stuffed squirrels as presents. Rion has always been fascinated by Papa Kwirk. Which is why, when Rion and his family learn of Papa Kwirk’s death and pile into the car to attend his funeral and pay their respects, Rion can’t help but feel that that’s not the end of his story. That there’s so much more to Papa Kwirk to discover.
He doesn’t know how right he is.
What people are saying about Finding Orion |
"Readers will be happily swept along by Rion’s first-person narration, which is often amusing, sometimes bemused, and occasionally even tender as he shows how his family was unwittingly drawn together by their shared experience. Anderson offers another original novel written with wit and compassion."
- Booklist
"Humor, plot twists, and quirky characters abound in this earnest middle grade tale of self-discovery."
- School Library Journal
"Eccentric yet believable characters and Rion's perceptive narration prevent Anderson's unpredictable tale from feeling overwrought as the relationships between three generations of fathers and sons are rewritten anew."
- Publisher's Weekly
- Booklist
"Humor, plot twists, and quirky characters abound in this earnest middle grade tale of self-discovery."
- School Library Journal
"Eccentric yet believable characters and Rion's perceptive narration prevent Anderson's unpredictable tale from feeling overwrought as the relationships between three generations of fathers and sons are rewritten anew."
- Publisher's Weekly
For Further Research...
Want to learn more about some of the things mentioned in the book? Start here!
Mount Everest Barbershop quartets Flavor chemist Fencing
Garbage Pail Kids Renaissance Fairs Burial practices Bridge to Terabithia
Constellations Toothbrushes Ferrets Ball pythons