Awards and HonorsKirkus Reviews – Best Young Adult Books 2007 | VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers 2007 | 2008 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, Finalist
In the waning days of the dinosaurs, a new world emerges. Dusk is different from the other chiropters in his colony. While they glide to get from tree to tree, Dusk has the urge-and, he soon discovers, the ability-to actually fly. As the leader's son, he is protected for a time, but his father asks him to suppress his unusual talent to avoid being shunned- or worse. Then a new threat emerges, when a group of felids, led by Carnassial, stops eating only fruit, roots, and grubs to become predators. Black-andwhite illustrations. Author's note.
Summary Dusk is not like the other chiropters. He has echovision, and he can fly. Carnassial is not like the other felids. He sees himself as a predator and enjoys killing for food. In the time when the beasts have succeeded in supplanting the saurians as rulers of the Earth, competition and evolution have changed the natural order. After Carnassial and his prowl invade their safe island, Icaron’s colony must seek out a home on the mainland. During the journey, Dusk’s “freakish” abilities help save chiropter lives, but Dusk begins to feel that he does not really belong in the colony.