A beautifully written story that weaves family relationships with the myth of Big Foot. It was mesmerising and will be loved by children and adults, thoroughly recommend.

Set in the remote North American mountains, Bigfoot Mountain is a heart-warming story of grief, healing and connecting with nature.

Minnie, a 12 year old girl, and her stepfather, Dan, live in a cabin at the foot of the mountain. Since the death of her mother, Minnie has understandably struggled due to her loss, deep sadness and difficulties connecting with Dan.

Whilst Minnie and her friend, Billy, are on a mountain trail, they discover four giant footprints! Minnie is convinced the footprints are not that of a human or animal but a Sasquatch. Dan dismisses this idea and believes they are the work of hoaxers. However, Minnie remains adamant the footprints have been made by one of the legendary Bigfoot that are said to live in the nearby forest and mountain.

Roderick O’Grady’s use of parallel chapters from the perspective of the human characters and the Sasquatches is an effective way of telling the story. Kaayii is a young Sasquatch, who watches the humans and especially Minnie with great curiosity. We soon learn Sasquatches are not to be feared, they are gentle creatures, sensitive to nature and those around them. The Sasquatches do have their own struggles, forced to move to the other side of the mountain away from raging forest fires. As the Sasquatches look on at the forest fires, how will they manage to escape them when their ancient paths are blocked by the human’s holiday cabins?

The story unfolds and their worlds entwine, but can the humans and Sasquatches help one another?

Bigfoot Mountain really is a wonderful and moving tale! Thank you Firefly Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Bigfoot Mountain by Roderick O’Grady.

Minnie lives at the foot of the mountains with her step-dad and as they are both coming to terms with the loss of Minnie's mum, Minnie and her friend Billly make an exciting discovery; one that proves the existance of the legendary Bigfoot. The dual narrative is cleverly done and the reader can't help but like the main protagonist Minnie. Definitely a girl with attitude! A brilliant, likeable character that aids the flow of the story.
Kaayii is intuitive and sensitive and through his narrative we discover that the language of the Bigfoot has been shaped over millennia, and is as old as the hills and as complex as the cavernous networks in the rocks beneath them. It is a language of musical rhythms formed in geometrical soundshapes as complex and as perfect as crystal structure. This is a moving story that highlights the
environmental impact of one action i.e forest fire and how it can impact on others. There is a real beauty of connection with nature. A perfect 5 star read.
Thank you to @fireflypress and @netgalley for the eARC.

Enveloped by nature in this heart-warming tale. Overflowing with knowledge & emotion,the descriptions transported me to the ancient pine forest & the shores of Echo Island. Loved Minnie's sass & self-belief through her grief to connect with a Sasquatch & make a difference. Easy-going KS2 read with plenty to learn and discuss.

I really liked the idea behind this, but unfortunately I didn't gel with the writing style and didn't feel that it all came together cohesively, so this wasn't one for me.

It was clear the author had a real love of and knowledge of nature, and this really came through in some detailed descriptions which set the scene well.

However, I found the characters harder to get along with and lacking in depth; Billy Bug seemed an awful lot younger than ten, and a bit redundant, and Dan felt wooden; I could see where the author was going with the relationship between Dan and Minnie but I don't feel it was tackled particularly skilfully and their conversations at times just didn't seem believable.

While I started to get into the chapter's written from Minnie's perspective, I struggled to feel convinced by those written from Kaayi's and found the sasquatches actions improbable or confusing at times.

There were some nice touches here, but overall the writing style and characters failed to win me over.

Minnie felt connected to the world when she was looking down from high up in a tree, LOVED the smell of pine & sticky hands from sap as she climbed. She loved being outside - except once, when her mass of curly hair got caught up so badly her mum had to cut her tangles out of twigs with scissors!

Living in a forest with cabins might sound like the perfect setting but since her mum passed away, life here with only her step-dad, Dan, isn't really the perfect scenario anyone dreams about.
She & Dan grieve separately whilst life goes on, surrounded by nothing but water, trees & animals.

Minnie (who dreams of being a pilot) & her friend Billy discover four GIANT footprints on a mountain trail but Dan (a former pilot) insists it's just hoaxers messing about.
Though she has books & the internet, it's time spent exploring that Minnie really LOVES. It's also exploring & catching salmon with her mum that she misses the most.

Tracking deer prints with friend Billy - one of the few others who lived in their group of cabins - was a fun thing to do, breaking up the times that were too quiet.
Even Musto, Billy's dog, acted a bit strangely one time when they found footprints.

Way too big to be Dan's - what were they supposed to think? They couldn't just ignore them.
Could something be there? Were they being watched? They found strange trees with no roots, in the shape of an X. Who does that?


The parallel story character Kaayii - a young sasquatch - sits high in trees, eating bugs from the bark. Curious about humans but keeping watch from a distance, Kaayii isn't alone. He has a large family.

Sasquatch have a special connection with the environment & nature. Heightened senses that help them understand nature & their world. They're peaceful & caring - not scary like so many people expect. Sasquatch live in harmony with other animals, foraging, sharing, eating roots, shoots, nuts berries & drinking water droplets from grass.

Kaayii can see a lot from a height, including smoke from raging forest fires that had forced his clan to relocate from the opposite side of the mountain.

Will Minnie discover Kaayii? Their lives might eventually meet but will sasquatch clash or be peaceful? Their communication was usually mind-speak through glances but in excitement, fear or to a group they'd resort to words & their musical rhythms formed a rich, unique language amongst the clan.

Discovering special messages & notes in recipes from her mum gives Minnie a fresh feeling of connection & cooking for Dan adds to that dimension. Even on hikes in the forest where moose, raccoons & other animals lived, Minnie felt her mum was with her.

Strange sounds & stranger events made Dan, Connie & Bill think twice about what's going on around them. Will Minnie's determination to learn about Bigfoot & actually see one, pay off?

Grief is a different type of struggle for everyone. Even the sasquatch in this story experience it. Everyone deals with things in their own way - at their own speed & that's ok. Sometimes something as simple as eye contact can be more significant than we expect.

This is a wonderful story with so many threads skilfully woven together & wrapped beautifully in love & connection.

Minnie lives near a large forest full of tall pine trees and she climbs them for great views over her cottage and the nearby lake. Since her mother passed, Minnie carries around sorrow and finds it hard to connect with Dan. Dan loved her mother and together they built cabins to rent to hikers and tourists. Dan and Minnie are grieving separately and need to learn to share memories and time together.
When Minnie discovers some incredibly large footprints in the mud of the mountain, some ideas arise as to how they got there and who they may belong to. Minnie believes firmly it is a Sasquatch or a Bigfoot. Along with her best friend and Dan, she explores the mountains a few times trying to find more clues to the existence of the Bigfoot.

In a parallel story, a young Sasquatch watches Minnie and can feel the sorrow she carries around with her, Kaayii is a young male living with his clan on the same mountain. Curious about humans, he watches them but signals when they get too close. Bigfoot have an affinity with nature and can feel and sense things around them. Minnie has a strong sense of understanding the world around her as well.

A compelling story of courage, protecting nature and finding your way. Minnie and Kaayii are both young, curious and brave in their own worlds. Coming together, they learn to protect each other and there is a sense of contentment on the mountain towards the end of the story.

I adored this story and found it enchanting and full of hope. I loved the parallels to the story as well as the way they intertwined and became one.