In the old days, ravens and humans were friends and traveled together, communicating and helping each other. Then a rift occurred, separating the two forever, except for a lucky few. Gabriel Finley is one of those lucky few, a fact he discovers on his 12th birthday. When he makes the connection with the raven chick Paladin, together they work to discover the mystery of his father’s disappearance and restore communion between humans and birds.

Gabriel Finley & the Raven’s Riddle by George Hagen is full of mystery and riddles. The story is interesting, and the riddles in the book are fun to work at solving. It also gives readers a lot to think about the nature of friendship. Gabriel loses his friend across the street after the friend moves, but the new girl, Abby, is an even better friend. His aunt takes in an old high school friend when she needs a place to stay, even though the friend is not so easy to live with. Even some of the villains, a school bully and a con man, get chances at redemption through friendship.

It’s an interesting look at human nature and how given the chance, even people who don’t seem the best on the surface can come through in a clinch. There’s a lot to like and discuss in Gabriel Finley in the Raven’s Riddle. I highly recommend it for readers and members of mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 12.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.