aftanith's review
4.0
National Parks mysteries? Sign me up.
Wolf Stalker is a fun little mystery obviously intended to get the target audience interested in and excited about the U.S. National Park system, and I'd wager it does a pretty good job doing that. I was particularly impressed that it, being a wolf story put out by the National Geographic Society, does not endorse the outdated, debunked "science" of wolf packs ("alpha wolves" are complete nonsense, thank you very much) and instead explains real wolf pack dynamics to child readers*. The mystery is a bit too to-be-expected, but I'm not going to hold that against the authors; in the first mystery of a series about National Parks, what other trope to start with besides poachers?
*You can read a little bit about that here, though I've gotta offer up some fair warning because that link delves into the subject via the context of abusive men justifying their assaults/behavior as being "alpha males"--which, I repeat quite strongly, are not a thing that exists.
I will point out that this story does feel a bit thematically all over the place, even if I did enjoy it. There's a lot of little things peppered in here that are kind of inexplicable and never get any justification; more glaring among these is the appearance of literal Nazi skinheads, an anti-government militia, and a group of ranchers who compare wolves to Hitler for some reason(!?). Like, why are fascism and antifacism running themes lurking in the background of this children's mystery, present yet never actually addressed? I have genuinely no idea.
The major subplot, regretfully, has much of the same problem. In it, the main character (a little boy named Jack) must learn how to extend compassion to the teenage boy (Troy) that his family is temporarily fostering. It was honestly frustrating for me, personally; if there's one thing I don't want to read about, it's anyone having to learn that the disenfranchised deserve compassion. But the moral of the story is that of course Jack's just being a dick and must learn not to be a dick... which is great and all, but it doesn't really tie thematically in to the wolf plotline. There's an argument to be made that the wolves and the teenager are both misunderstood, but the parallels aren't really there strongly enough to make a good argument on that front. So the "misunderstood foster kid" B-plot is just kind of there instead of actually serving the story.
But like I said, I did enjoy this. I also have quite a few other books in this series hanging around here somewhere, and I'm looking forward to getting into those. I'm very curious to see if this series will continue with the same family of characters (and if it does, whether or not we'll ever see Troy again) or if the next story will not only be about a different park but a whole different cast, too.
Wolf Stalker is a fun little mystery obviously intended to get the target audience interested in and excited about the U.S. National Park system, and I'd wager it does a pretty good job doing that. I was particularly impressed that it, being a wolf story put out by the National Geographic Society, does not endorse the outdated, debunked "science" of wolf packs ("alpha wolves" are complete nonsense, thank you very much) and instead explains real wolf pack dynamics to child readers*. The mystery is a bit too to-be-expected, but I'm not going to hold that against the authors; in the first mystery of a series about National Parks, what other trope to start with besides poachers?
*You can read a little bit about that here, though I've gotta offer up some fair warning because that link delves into the subject via the context of abusive men justifying their assaults/behavior as being "alpha males"--which, I repeat quite strongly, are not a thing that exists.
I will point out that this story does feel a bit thematically all over the place, even if I did enjoy it. There's a lot of little things peppered in here that are kind of inexplicable and never get any justification; more glaring among these is the appearance of literal Nazi skinheads, an anti-government militia, and a group of ranchers who compare wolves to Hitler for some reason(!?). Like, why are fascism and antifacism running themes lurking in the background of this children's mystery, present yet never actually addressed? I have genuinely no idea.
The major subplot, regretfully, has much of the same problem. In it, the main character (a little boy named Jack) must learn how to extend compassion to the teenage boy (Troy) that his family is temporarily fostering. It was honestly frustrating for me, personally; if there's one thing I don't want to read about, it's anyone having to learn that the disenfranchised deserve compassion. But the moral of the story is that of course Jack's just being a dick and must learn not to be a dick... which is great and all, but it doesn't really tie thematically in to the wolf plotline. There's an argument to be made that the wolves and the teenager are both misunderstood, but the parallels aren't really there strongly enough to make a good argument on that front. So the "misunderstood foster kid" B-plot is just kind of there instead of actually serving the story.
But like I said, I did enjoy this. I also have quite a few other books in this series hanging around here somewhere, and I'm looking forward to getting into those. I'm very curious to see if this series will continue with the same family of characters (and if it does, whether or not we'll ever see Troy again) or if the next story will not only be about a different park but a whole different cast, too.
meliaraastair's review
4.0
I ran into these in a National Park bookstore this summer and knew I needed to check them out at some point. This first book was great - even better than I expected!
Olivia and Stephen have just taken in a foster child whose mother is missing. He insists she is fine and wouldn't leave him, but everyone suspects otherwise. When Olivia, a wolf biologist in Yellowstone, gets a call about a dog-wolf incident that needs investigating, they pack up their kids and head off to Yellowstone. The kids end up witnessing a wolf shot inside the park - can they catch the shooter? And will Troy's mom reappear?
I really enjoyed this book! Sure, it's a kids' book, so it's not overly detailed. But, there's a good balance of learning empathy for someone who has lived a whole different life than you, there's a great love for nature and national parks, and there's some info on the importance of wolves in the park, too. This is what I think is so great about the junior ranger program and books like these - it gets kids interested, gets kids learning, and hopefully they will help to educate their families - and grow up to be responsible caretakers of our natural places.
I'll go 9 of 10 overall and 5 of 5 for readability! Really short, but a great read!
For more reviews, check out bedroopedbookworms.wordpress.com!
Olivia and Stephen have just taken in a foster child whose mother is missing. He insists she is fine and wouldn't leave him, but everyone suspects otherwise. When Olivia, a wolf biologist in Yellowstone, gets a call about a dog-wolf incident that needs investigating, they pack up their kids and head off to Yellowstone. The kids end up witnessing a wolf shot inside the park - can they catch the shooter? And will Troy's mom reappear?
I really enjoyed this book! Sure, it's a kids' book, so it's not overly detailed. But, there's a good balance of learning empathy for someone who has lived a whole different life than you, there's a great love for nature and national parks, and there's some info on the importance of wolves in the park, too. This is what I think is so great about the junior ranger program and books like these - it gets kids interested, gets kids learning, and hopefully they will help to educate their families - and grow up to be responsible caretakers of our natural places.
I'll go 9 of 10 overall and 5 of 5 for readability! Really short, but a great read!
For more reviews, check out bedroopedbookworms.wordpress.com!
aconfundityofcrows's review
3.0
I decided to read one last book in this series before putting it down altogether. This book takes place in Yellowstone National Park and this time the Landon family is investigating the death of a rancher's dog. The rancher claims the dog was killed by one of the recently reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone Park. While the parents are investigating the remains of the dog their children, Jack and Ashley, along with their foster child Troy, end up lost in the woods and protecting an injured wolf they see get shot. Of course, when they are rescued this is vital information to their parents investigation. Since this says it's a mystery, judging it as that the mystery isn't particularly complex. If you like mysteries that require a lot of thought then you will probably be disappointed. This (and most of the series) is more of an adventure story. I think this is probably my least favorite of the four books I've read in this series. It didn't feel as suspenseful as Running Scared (when they were lost in the caves) or have all around crazy going on like in The Hunted (when the kids were attacked by a bear!!!). It did get more interesting near the end when What I also didn't didn't like was how annoying Jack was in this book, fortunately that was a part of his character arc in this book, so he learns by the end of the book to be less bossy. And this is something he learns from because he doesn't have this problem in later books. (yay continuity!)
If you like the other books in the series or think your kids might like them I recommend this book. It is interesting and usually educational.
Spoiler
they confronted the egotistical rancher and there was a fight over the tape with incriminating evidence.If you like the other books in the series or think your kids might like them I recommend this book. It is interesting and usually educational.
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