The Quest for Z

April 24, 2017
Pizzoli takes readers to the pre-GPS era, when “maps of the world still included large ‘blank spots’,” and introduces cartographer/explorer Percy Fawcett, who disappeared in 1925 while looking for the remnants of an ancient city deep in the Amazon rainforest. Fawcett dubbed this once-mighty metropolis “Z”—maybe, Pizzoli speculates, “because the lost city seemed to be the most remote place in the world, the final stop, like the last letter of the alphabet.” As he did in Tricky Vic, Pizzoli combines flat illustrations and elements (like speech balloons) with archival materials, giving the pages the feel of an animated educational film. The narrative can be a little hard to track as Pizzoli recounts the several expeditions Fawcett led for the Royal Geographic Society prior to his private, doomed search for Z. But hardly a page goes by without an enthralling or gory detail, such as the discovery of an expedition scout found “dead, with forty-two arrows in his body,” an incident Pizzoli depicts with an image reminiscent of the classic Saul Bass poster for Anatomy of a Murder. Ages 7–10. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

Starred review from April 15, 2017
Pizzoli resurrects an early-20th-century mystery in this riveting portrait of Percy Fawcett, a renowned British explorer who vanished during an ill-fated hunt for a "lost" city.Shortly following an early life of military service to the British Empire, Fawcett dived deep into a career of adventuring. He trained for a year with the Royal Geographical Society, a prominent research center based in London, before the organization began to send him out on expeditions into South America between the years of 1906 and 1924. Pizzoli devotes the first half of Fawcett's tale to building the latter's legend, expertly drawing from Fawcett's thrilling brushes with wildlife and local populations to bring to life the formidable explorer. (An encounter involving a giant anaconda is presented via minimalist illustrations both terrifying and brilliant in scope.) Throughout his various research excursions, Fawcett heard tales of a mythical city deep in the Amazon rain forest. Naming the city "Z," Fawcett soon embarked on what turned out to be his final known expedition, and his subsequent disappearance went on to capture the public's imagination. As in the author's previous gem (Tricky Vic, 2015), the strikingly matte, mixed-media pictures ooze personality and perfectly complement the succinct text and informational sidebars. Predictably, Fawcett's story features a cast of light-skinned characters, with a few brown-skinned individuals included to represent the invisible local populations; his failure to "conquer" in the end represents a fascinating twist on the usual narrative of imperialism. A superb snapshot of an adventurer. (author's note, appendix, glossary, selected sources) (Picture book/biography. 7-12)

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April 1, 2017
Gr 2-5-Percy Fawcett dreamed of being an explorer from the time he was a young child in the 1860s; the accounts of his explorer father and brother fueled his enthusiasm. Even his stint in the British Army in Sri Lanka afforded him the opportunity to investigate local jungles. On Fawcett's return home, he began training through the Royal Geographical Society, learning, for instance, which plants were poisonous and which were not. The Society hired him to map areas of Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru, including some of the most dangerous regions of the Amazon rain forest. Fawcett kept coming home safe and finding a new trip to lead. Throughout, he heard rumors of a fantastic ancient city reportedly deep in the Amazon area, a ruin he wanted to locate. So off he went in April 1925, with his 21-year-old son and another young man. Fawcett sold his story to a newspaper and promised regular reports so the papers could bring -live- news to their readers. This offering is for daring readers who prefer nonfiction: there's an unknown explorer to pique their interest, great back matter to demonstrate how to deepen their research, and Pizzoli's clever, humorous illustrations. However, this is very much a tale of British colonialism and will likely need to be supplemented with further discussions. VERDICT A swashbuckling adventure for large elementary school and nonfiction collections.-Dorcas Hand, formerly at Annunciation Orthodox School, Houston

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2017
Grades 2-4 Before the recent innovation of satellite imaging, many regions of the world were shrouded in mystery. One such place was a rumored ancient city, called Z, buried deep in the Amazon rain forest, and, in 1925, British explorer Percy Fawcett endeavored to find it. In his signature blocky art style, Pizzoli offers an engaging biography of the enterprising Fawcett, from his early dreams of adventure to his career charting regions of South America, all culminating in the expedition to find the city of Z, from which he would never return. The soft figures composed of geometric shapes in flat colors give the story a playful feel despite the unfortunate end of its subject, and occasional historical photos and sidebars with facts about the Amazon and early twentieth-century exploration add lots of concrete context. Admirably, Pizzoli notes that most explorers never actually discovered anything; they merely took credit for finding places indigenous groups led them to. With a focus on mystery, peril, and adventure, this inviting biography should easily pique the curiosity of the elementary-school set.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)