Eleven-year-old Jake Grant and his family move from the city to a ranch in British Columbia’s Cariboo district. He is befriended by a plucky tomboy, Willy, and they discover a wild coyote in Jake’s barn. The coyote turns out to be pregnant and is nurtured by Jake and the Grants until she miraculously delivers 10 pups. Jake names the runt Number
en, and so their story begins.

The Red Bandanna treads the familiar territory of child-and-wild-animal stories. These are often gentle journey or adventure tales, and Smith’s first novel is no exception. Yet, this story never reaches its anticipated liftoff. Though we’re immediately introduced to the reckless Willy as a counterpoint to our contemplative hero, she disappears all too soon and returns infrequently and ineffectually. With the exception of the nasty neighbour who believes the only good coyote is a dead one, there’s an absence of well-developed secondary conflicts or tension. The Grants are relentlessly nice. Jake doesn’t seem unduly troubled by his move, new school, or new way of life. He even appears remarkably composed in the face of threats from the evil neighbour, whose heart he inevitably melts. The tension is further reduced by the narrator’s confusing shifts in point-of-view, which make it more difficult for readers to bond with the hero. Finally, there’s an uncomfortable sense of waiting for the story to begin, given that Jake’s adventures with Number Ten don’t actually start until halfway through the book. The Red Bandanna might appeal to the younger end of the publisher’s recommended age range but only if they like their adventure served “over easy.”