North to Benjamin by Alan Cumyn

[Atheneum Books for Young Readers] Hatchet meets Maybe a Fox in this “gripping, suspenseful” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) novel about Edgar, a boy who has lost the ability to speak and can only bark, and his dog Benjamin as they travel through the freezing Yukon wilderness in order to stop Edgar’s mother from making a huge mistake. Eleven-year-old Edgar’s mom is making him move. Again. This time, they’re headed to a tiny town in the Yukon called Dawson, Alaska. For once, though, Edgar is excited. They’ll be housesitting, and with the house comes a dog: Benjamin. It’s love at first sight when Edgar first spies the massive Newfoundland, and soon Edgar starts liking lots of other things about Dawson. But just as soon, he starts noticing things. The kinds of things his mom did before; the kinds of things that caused them to move so much. The kinds of things that will surely, absolutely cause them to move again. Unless he can warn the people who are about to be hurt. Yet j