Thunder Cave

Children's Literature - Gisela Jernigan

After 14 year old Jacob Lansa's mother is killed in an accident, he flees his New York City home to try and find his Dad, a wildlife biologist studying and trying to protect elephants in a remote part of Kenya. Although he has already learned much about survival and wildlife biology from survival school and his Hopi father and grandfather, Jacob must still struggle and learn as he faces challenges from thieves, lions, poachers, heat and drought. With the help of Supeet, a Masai wise man, Jacob does manage to find his father, foil the poachers and save the elephants. The novel, with its likable hero and fast-paced excitement is a very good survival story, with interesting information about Kenya's recent problems, Masai culture and elephant behavior skillfully interwoven into the plot.

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-A maddening mix of adventure imbued with Hopi and Masai mysticism. Fourteen-year-old Jake Lansa, a half-Italian, half-Hopi boy who lives in New York City with his mother and stepfather, both anthropology professors, corresponds with his father, an idealistic field biologist studying elephants in Kenya. After his mother is run over by a car while jogging, Jake decides Kenya is a better bet than being shipped off to his relatives in Nebraska. One hitch is that his father is unreachable somewhere out in the bush. After surviving a mugging in Nairobi, Jake bicycles his way west, right past lions and warthogs. He befriends a well-educated Masai and together, their mission somehow linked by Jake's grandfather's kachina, they bring rain to the drought-stricken country, drive out ruthless poachers, and, of course, find Dr. Lansa. Survival tips, like learning how to stalk animals by seeing through their eyes, are engrossing, and the butchery of the elephants by the poachers is sobering. The conservation message isn't too ponderous, but other aspects of the story are preachy, and the ``voice-overs''-prophetic words uttered by Jake's father and grandfather-are repetitive and soon grate. The ``you're here for a reason'' theme is disappointing in the otherwise real and appealing My Side of the Mountain-like teenage-survival story.-John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TX