Outback

May 1, 2011

Gr 6-10-Jayden is down and depressed after his girlfriend dumps him, and when a chance comes to go to Australia to visit strange Uncle Mel, he figures, why not? He discovers that his biologist uncle wants to go into the Outback to find a new species of lizards, and the mission seems almost suicidal. Accompanying them is Mel's research assistant, pierced and surly Natalie. All signs point to disaster, and the ultimate happens: the truck catches fire with most of their supplies and belongings in it and leaves them stranded at least 10 days away from civilization with no hope of anyone driving, walking, or flying by. Unfortunately, the plot wraps up a little too neatly and easily, and there's no real romance, drama, or survival smarts happening in the meantime.-Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, Oakland, CA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2011
Grades 5-8 Devastated by a breakup, Jayden jumps at an offer to visit his biologist uncle in Australia. He arrives just in time to join a secret and ill-advised outing to Lake Disappointment, a remote salt flat where species of lizards unknown to science may dwell. On the way, Uncle Mel's conviction that rival scientists are out to steal his thunder blossoms into full-blown paranoia, and when their vehicle catches fire hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement, he abandons Jayden with hostile assistant Natalie to strike out on his own. As if being stranded with few supplies in an oven-hot wilderness wasn't bad enough, Natalie then reveals that she has an endocrinal disorder and her supplies of medicine are running out. In this short, no-frills survival tale from the Orca Soundings series, Stevenson sets up a seemingly hopeless situation, lets her young protagonist rise to the challenge, and, in the wake of a lucky but credible rescue, leaves him at the end with a fresh lease on life. The focus on action and simple prose should draw indifferent and below-grade readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)