Blackthorn by Elizabeth Pulford

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Walker Books, 2008 ISBN9781921150470
(Age 10+)When her father dies, Alyana can no longer play the role of the dutiful daughter and be relegated to a relative's house, learning to cook and sew. She renounces all attempts at helping her, preferring to hide out in the nearby forests and survive alone. She has hunting skills learnt form her father, and feels she is able to stay alive without help.

But she is naive and needs the help of the man who finds her in the forest, starving and scared, the one she calls Boar, the man with the twisted leg. He gives her a puppy and together they survive with the skills and instincts taught her by Boar. Calling herself Blackthorn, she denounces all that she knew before and learns to survive in the forest.

Here she learns more about herself and her limits, and sees for herself some of the other inhabitants in the forest. An unusual little read about acceptance and self determination.
Fran Knight

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