I picked this book up when I was on vacation. It reminded me of a previous vacation to Yosemite National Park a few summers ago. I can't resist books with connections to places I have visited.
The story starts out with the main character, 12 year old Lizzie Durango, describing the wolves she has been studying at the zoo where she lives. Her father is the head zookeeper at a California wildlife park not too far from Yosemite National Park. She is right at home at the zoo with their house actually on the zoo property.
The wolves are a new exhibit and they fascinate her. One day she discovers a strange boy is actually living behind the elephant enclosure and befriends this runaway named Tyler. They become fast friends and discover that as the wolves began to get sick and die, something mysterious might be happening instead of natural causes.
Through some sneaking around they find themselves in the middle of Yosemite National Park having to survive in the wilderness at night with practically nothing but a bit of water and some scraps of food. A side mystery is the legend of naturalist John Muir's lost cabin that no one has ever found in Yosemite. They are hopeful that they can figure out where it was in the park.
I enjoyed this book and found the details very interesting about wolves and John Muir and Yosemite. They mystery ended a bit flat for me and I found myself thinking...is that all there was to it? The characters were a delight and the general plot made this book a fun read. I will still recommend the book despite the ending though!
Age Range: 9 - 1410 - 14
Grade Level: 4 - 6
Reading Level: 4.65.2
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher:Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (October 11, 2016)
Rating: 4 out of 4
This book reminded me the of mystery series set in a zoo by Stuart Gibbs where Teddy Fitzroy who lives at FunJungle solves mysteries there.
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