June 15, 2023
A grief-stricken boy finds a renewed sense of family and purpose on a secret expedition into the rainforest. Jack has been on a downward spiral since the death of his beloved father. Depression muffles his emotions, and he feels drawn to risky endeavors with a crew of troublemakers. Mum suddenly announces they're going away for two weeks over the Christmas holidays, but what Jack assumes is a vacation turns out to be a life-changing expedition for her work. Written in the first person, this story is anchored by Jack's vivid emotions. Grief, anger, and hurt are deftly drawn as his emotional world expands and his passion for environmental and human rights grows. While Jack's strong voice carries the story despite shallow supporting character development, even he can't really explain why he was given no training before being thrust into the dangers of the rainforest. The covert expedition in the third act is the most compelling part of the story, although the transition from cautionary tale about an apathetic, wounded boy to survival story is a bit abrupt. Cultural markers and Portuguese words point to a Brazilian locale. There's an odd juxtaposition of specific details about the lives of the region's Indigenous people with a lack of specificity about their name and lands; in fact, specific geographic names are omitted throughout the book. Jack has a Portuguese-speaking grandmother; his race and nationality are ambiguous. A strong emotional arc grounds this uneven survival story exploring environmental and human rights. (Fiction. 10-14)
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