6th
Grade and Up
12-years-old Lizzie Durango has always had a zoo to
call home. Her dad is the head zookeeper at the California wildlife park named
after famous naturalist John Muir, and Lizzie had grown up bottle-feeding baby
llamas and handing boa constrictors.
One afternoon while roaming the zoo grounds, she bumps
into Tyler Briggs, a runaway who has secretly made the zoo his makeshift home.
The two become friends and are soon drawn into an investigation involving the
zoo wolves who are suddenly dying. Little do they know, this mystery will draw
them into a high-stakes historical adventure involving the legend of John Muir
as they try to navigate safely while love in Yosemite National Park.
This book was written by Elise Broach, the author of
the ‘Superstition Mountain’ Series, and once again she’s written another
brilliant historical mystery. I read the first Superstition book while lying in
a hammock in Utah and it was so much more enjoyable then reading the other two
at home in my room. I regret not reading this book in Utah surrounded my
nature.
Has anyone noticed how many stories there are where
the main character’s mother or father or both are dead? Why are there so many
stories like that? It’s not like that in real life. Not every ones parents died
in a car crash or a disease. It’s just sort of lazy writing at this point. I
only mention it because this story has the same concept but it’s extra sad.
Lizzie’s mother died right after she was born, she never got a chance to know her
mother. But enough of this sadness, that’s not what this book is about.
I love animals; they are so much better than humans.
Humans are just furless creatures with thumbs that can build stuff. And humans
can be so stupid and mean. Animals can be mean too but look at all those
unlikely animal friendships. My personal favorite friendship is Tarra the
elephant and Bella the dog. If those animals can get along, what’s our excuse?
My favorite animals are tigers. Their faces are so
beautiful and their paws are so big, even when their babies. One time when I
was at the zoo, I saw a tiger lying in the grass all bored. I have this fantasy
where I go up to the tiger and hug it around the middle. The tiger would lift
it’s head and look at me like ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ It would yawn
real big then lie back down and think ‘Eh I don’t care.’ I know this could
never happen but I can dream.
This is probably going into too much detail about the
story but I want to make a point. The John Muir Zoo homes seven wolves. The
reason behind this is conservation. The wolves were injured or trapped or were
caught killing cattle or sheep. If they weren’t kept in the zoo they would’ve
ended up shot or poisoned. The wolves are being kept in the zoo to keep them
safe but they aren’t free. The same goes for all zoo animals. This book asks
the question, ‘Should animals be kept in zoos?’ There really isn’t a good
answer to this. Some animals wouldn’t last in the wild, for example Winter the
dolphin from Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Again, no good answer.
I learned a few cool things about animals from this
story. Here are my Top 2 Facts:
1) Tiger pee has ‘a particular acrid stench that
almost burns your nostrils’.
2) Giraffes can’t throw up easily (I previously knew
this and it’s sort of obvious, the long neck and all. It would take forever).
Be sure to read the ‘Author’s Note’ to find out what’s
fact and what’s fiction.
