By Maggie Caldwell Smith
Magpie Press
www.magpiepress.com
PO Box 6434
Pine Mountain Club, CA 93222
The main character in this book is Tommy, a soon-to-be 7th grader who is working as a ranger intern in Arizona and also likes to help out the local veterinarian. The plot includes some harmful pranks pulled by a couple of boys on a new intern. Tommy overcomes his own irritation with the new boy and becomes his friend while also finding out what is killing off the local wildlife.
The reading level, based on a random page tested by Microsoft readability statistics, is 5.6. The plot is pretty good, with a slightly predictable ending from my viewpoint as an adult. The cover is attractive enough; my son picked it up without being prompted, and it is now next on his reading list.
This not a Christian book; a prayer would have been quite natural during the cave-in chapters, but there was not even a hint. There is no bad language or sexual innuendo and the story is quite appropriate for a pre-teen student. It could be even used as a science supplement with its commentary about desert life and survival in the desert.
Product review by Nancy Wagner, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, August 2007
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