Dawn (book)

Dawn is the third volume in the second series of six Warriors books, called the New Prophecy. Squirrelpaw is the cat on the cover.

The Blurb

 * Darkness, Air, Water, and Sky will come together...and shake the forest to its roots.


 * The young cats who set off on a quest many moons ago have returned with a chilling message: The Clans must move to a new home, or risk extermination.


 * But the dangers waiting for them beyond their borders are impossible to predict, and the cats have no idea where to go. What they need is a sign from StarClan....

The Praise

 * "A suspenseful animal adventure that urges readers onward."
 * -ALA Booklist


 * "Action-packed. Certain to please any young reader who has ever wondered what dreams of grandeur may haunt the family cat."
 * -Publishers Weekly


 * "This exciting book is not for the faint of heart. Fans will lap it up while impatiently awaiting the next entry."
 * -School Library Journal


 * "The third book in Warriors: The New Prophecy series finds the four clans being driven from their territories as the "Twolegs" relentlessly denude the forest with their huge machines. The small band of cats that undertook a quest for the StarClan returns home with a new mission: to persuade all the clans to unify for a long, dangerous journey to a new home. The feline characters remain true to their natures, and, as expected, the danger level is high. Fans will relish this eminently satisfying episode in a series rooted in Hunter's first Warriors novel, Into the Wild (2002)"
 * -Sally Estes, Booklist

Detailed Plot Summary

 * The destruction of the forest has already begun with all the Clans except RiverClan. They are each starving as the food supply has been cut off and the habitat destroyed by the Twolegs building a new Thunderpath. Amid the destruction, cats are being taken away by Twolegs and shut into cages, including the ThunderClan medicine cat apprentice, Leafpaw. Fourtrees is destroyed by Twolegs and Firestar takes ThunderClan away from their camp for safety, ending up at Sunningrocks.


 * Brambleclaw, Squirrelpaw, Crowpaw, Stormfur and Tawnypelt return to the Clans with the message: the cats must move to a new home, or risk extermination. The leaders meet at Fourtrees to wait for StarClan's sign promised by Midnight, but it does not come, and they begin to doubt the message.


 * Graystripe is taken by the Twolegs, but he succeeds in rescuing Leafpaw and the other cats from RiverClan and WindClan, as well as many loners and rogues. Several cats die from the starvation or because of accidents. The Clans also find out that Tigerstar was the father of Hawkfrost and Mothwing.


 * A devastating attack on the ShadowClan camp -in which Firestar loses a life from being crushed by a tree- eventually convinces all four leaders that the Clans must leave the forest, and they set out. They shelter in a ruined Twoleg Nest near Barley's Farm, then reach Highstones. The dying warrior from Midnight's prophecy is revealed to be a star which runs through the night sky and drops behind the mountains, showing the direction the Clans must go to find their new home.


 * They continue to travel through the moors, then entering the mountains, guided by the five cats who returned from the Great Journey. They meet the Tribe of Rushing Water, where they shelter until they recover. Stormfur chooses to stay with the Tribe, with Brook and Feathertail's spirit. Tallstar gives Crowpaw his warrior name, letting the apprentice choose his own name in honor of Feathertail. Squirrelpaw confesses her love to Brambleclaw and he loves her back.


 * Leaving the mountains behind, the Clans discover a forest around a lake reflecting the stars. Leafpaw is certain that this is the Clans' new home.

Publication History

 * Dawn (EN), HarperCollins (hardcover), 27 December 2005
 * Рассвет (RU), OLMA Media Group (unknown binding), 2006, translated by Veronica Maximova
 * Dawn (EN), HarperCollins (paperback), 14 November 2006
 * Dawn (EN), HarperCollins (e-book), 6 November 2007
 * 重現家園 (CN), Morning Star (unknown binding), 1 May 2009, translated by Gao Mei
 * 夜明け (JP), Komine Shoten (unknown binding), 27 July 2009, translated by Yukako Takabayashi
 * Aurore (FR), Pocket Jeunesse (paperback), 1 October 2009, translated by Aude Carlier
 * Morgenröte (DE), Beltz & Gelberg (hardcover), 30 July 2011, translated by Klaus Weimann