The Vaquita

March 6, 2023
When their mother disappears in the Amazon rainforest while researching golden lion tamarins, two siblings leave base camp to seek her in this uneven, environmentally conscious mystery. Resourceful, fact-savvy Asia Wilde, 13, and fearless Ring, 11, are often left to their own devices by their ambitious parents, but Asia’s field notebooks betray a yearning for regular school over global homeschooling. Their conservation-biologist mother frequently goes off-grid during field work, and their veterinarian father operates a massive Texas animal park, specializing in conserving rare and endangered animals. Currently staying with their mother south of Altamira near Brazil’s Xingu River, the kids wake to find they’ve been deserted by their camp crew and their mom is missing from her zipline-connected network of treetop research platforms. The nearest adult is their dithering tutor, until the arrival of an Indigenous Kayapo man, Raoni, who holds an advanced degree in cultural anthropology and conservation biology, and who helps the children after wildlife-cam footage deepens the mystery. Though Raoni’s undercover impersonation of “an ignorant Kayapo” strikes a strange note, thrilling, high-stakes escape scenes propel the plot and eco-justice message as Smith (The Switch) reveals the terrible damage inflicted by government and industry on Indigenous lands and wildlife habitats. Ages 9–10.