Nathan Pluck, or Nate as he wishes he could go by, has never had a problem with anyone. In fact, if it weren't for his dad's rules, he would probably have way more friends than he currently has... which is none unless you count his homeschool teacher, Aunt Hope. It doesn't help the situation that Prokopē Bay (pronounced praw-kaw-pay), the a small tourist island where he lives, is just out of reach from the mainland. The island is home to thousands of birds, but as a seagull, the only ones he ever hears about are crows. Like it or not, the seagulls and the crows both need food to survive; and as scavengers that means competition. That is why Nathan's father, Adikos, must lead his people in the ongoing war against the crows while still protecting them from the newcomers to town, the Harris's Hawks, who took Nathan's mother and left Adikos to raise him alone. It's a fight for food on the island that has lasted for so long, nobody really even knows why it continues. Nathan, however, could care less. He craves the outside world and all it can offer that his nest can't. In his attempt to seek that freedom, however, a tragedy occurs that leaves him stranded on a distant beach with no idea how to get back home. It will take all of his courage, and the help of his new friends Chester, a bottlenose dolphin, and Bill, a sea lion, and a crow named Windy (not Wendy as she always has to correct), for Nathan to return home. Little does he know that in the process, he will also learn the value of family, friendship, and teamwork.
![The Adventures of Mr. John Timothy Homespun in Switzerland. [by F. A. Butler.] Stolen from the French of Tartaron de Tareascon Aux Alpes [or Rather, Imitated from Tartarin Sur Les Alpes, by Alphonse Daudet].](/covers/9781241061418.jpg)
