Erin Hunter’s The Silent Thaw is a spooky Warriors story for 10 year olds about a young cat who can see a ghost nobody else can, and the ghost is a Clan leader who isn’t supposed to be dead.<\/p>\n
It opens with Bramblestar, leader of ThunderClan, watching his own body. He’s lost one of his nine lives to a fever and he’s waiting to wake up in the next one. Instead his body gets up and walks off without him.<\/p>\n
It’s an eerie, clever prologue. You know something is badly wrong long before any of the Clan cats do.<\/p>\n
The ghostly Bramblestar goes looking for help, and the only cat who can see him is Rootpaw, a SkyClan apprentice. Rootpaw does NOT want this gift. His father Tree sees dead cats, and Rootpaw has spent his whole life wishing his dad were more normal. Now he’s seeing through Bramblestar’s pelt to the ferns behind.<\/p>\n
Over in ThunderClan, Bristlefrost has just become a warrior. Bramblestar is back, but he’s acting oddly. He forgets a young warrior’s name, snaps at the medicine cats and thinks the elders can manage without a warm den. Then he puts Bristlefrost in charge of the daily patrols. She’s thrilled, and you’ll want to warn her.<\/p>\n
The third cat is Shadowsight, newly named as ShadowClan’s medicine cat. StarClan has gone quiet for everyone except him, and the message he’s had is a frightening one. It names cats who have broken the warrior code, his own mother among them, and his father tells him to keep it secret.<\/p>\n
It’s a brilliant set-up for a reader who loves being one step ahead. You’ll feel like you’re in on a secret with the whole of the forest still in the dark.<\/p>\n
A word about that opening. It starts with a death, even if it’s a leader’s death and he’s watching it. Bramblestar’s body is laid out for a vigil and his mate grieves over him. The cats are hungry after a long, cold leaf-bare. It’s spooky rather than bloody in these opening chapters, but it’s an uneasy book from the very first page.<\/p>\n
This is book two of this Warriors run, and the story leans hard on book one, Lost Stars. It also expects your reader to know the Clans and their names already.<\/p>\n
So for anyone new to the forest, start with the very first Warriors book, Into the Wild. Rusty is a well-fed pet cat who dreams of catching mice, and on the other side of his garden fence the wild cats are already fighting over their borders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Erin Hunter’s The Silent Thaw is a spooky Warriors story for 10 year olds about a young cat who can see a ghost nobody else can, and the ghost is a Clan leader who isn’t supposed to be dead. It opens with Bramblestar, leader of ThunderClan, watching his own body. He’s lost one of his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13811,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"lr_next_read_post_id":9676,"lr_next_read_anchor":"Into the Wild","lr_seo_hook":"Only one young cat can see Bramblestar's ghost, and he wishes he couldn't.","lr_series_id":203,"lr_series_name":"Warriors: The Broken Code","lr_series_position":2,"lr_series_label":""},"book_tag":[27],"age_group":[29],"book_type":[1044],"book_author":[314],"class_list":["post-13812","our-books","type-our-books","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","book_tag-fantasy-books","age_group-books-for-10-year-olds","book_type-paid","book_author-erin-hunter"],"yoast_title":"Warriors (The Broken Code) 2 – The Silent Thaw by Erin Hunter | Little Reads","yoast_metadesc":"Only one young cat can see Bramblestar's ghost, and he wishes he couldn't. For ages 10+. 3,000+ books in the Little Reads app. 7-day free trial.","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n