Let’s go explore South and Central American rainforests with today’s nonfiction picks! Click on the titles to see my full reviews including any content notes and trigger warnings (which there definitely are for many of these…the jungle is not a friendly environment for many humans, just look at how many of these titles have 'lost' in them).
Amazon Adventure: How Tiny Fish Are Saving the World’s Largest Rainforest (Scientists in the Field) by Sy Montgomery, photos by Keith Ellenbogen
Author Sy Montgomery and photographer Keith Ellenbogen join a group traveling up the Amazon led by aquarist Scott Dowd to learn about how the pet fish industry is actually helping the Amazon ecosystem and economy. Meet the people who catch the little tetras native to the Amazon and the village that even holds a festival in their honor every year.
This is a very unusual perspective on the pet trade, and a great look at the unique Amazon ecosystem and how economic factors are impacting it.
Note: Sy Montgomery has several books in the Scientists in the Field series set in South America. I decided to just pick one to highlight, but I also recommend checking out her The Tapir Scientist and The Tarantula Scientist which look at other South American animals and their ecosystems.
Target Readers:
Pet Fish Owners, Fish Lovers, Amazon Armchair Explorers, Amazon Ecosystem Studiers, Persuasive Writing Studiers, Nonfiction Fans, Middle Grade/Young Adult Readers
Death on the River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Amazon Adventure by Samantha Seiple
Former President Teddy Roosevelt was invited down to Brazil to give a series of lectures. While down there, he was invited to join an expedition to explore and map what was believed to be a new branch of the Amazon, the River of Doubt. Never one to say no to a good adventure, Teddy and his son Kermit joined the expedition led by renowned Brazilian explorer Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon. Instead of finding a nice easy river, though, the expedition encountered numerous difficulties and all of them were in danger of not making it out of the deep jungles of Brazil alive.
This is one crazy adventure. It’s a miracle anyone survived! I’d read this one before you read The Lost City of Z as Roosevelt’s misadventure is referenced several times in Grann’s book.
Target Readers:
Survival Story Fans, Adventure Fans, Amazon Armchair Explorers, Roosevelt History Fans, Thrilling Nonfiction Fans, Young Adult Readers (Adults will enjoy it too)
The Incredible Yet True Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt: the Greatest Inventor Naturalist Scientist Explorer Who Ever Lived by Volker Mehnert, ill. by Claudia Lieb, translated by Becky L. Crook
An illustrated middle grade biography of Baron Alexander Von Humboldt, famous Prussian explorer of the Americas in the early 1800s.
Humboldt was a daring explorer, who with his friend, Aimé Bonpland, a botanist, explored and mapped parts of South America in modern day Venezuela, Ecuador, Columbia, and Peru. They then spent time in Cuba and Mexico, before venturing up to say hello to the U.S. President Thomas Jefferson and speak about their travels for crowds before returning to Europe five years after they initially left. Humboldt had been a mining scientist in Prussia before his adventuring days, and he had a deep fascination with volcanoes. They think he knew more about them than anyone else during his time period. He and Aimé also likely set records for the highest mountain climb of the time, as well as discovering plants and animals previously unknown to Europeans. Their talks in Europe were extremely popular. I was pleased to discover that Humboldt had a surprisingly and refreshingly respectful attitude towards the indigenous cultures he came across and was outspoken against slavery before it was popular to do so.
Target Readers:
Biography Fans, Adventure Fans, Scientist Fans, Abolitionist Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Middle Grade Readers on up
The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston
Douglas Preston managed to get in on a hunt for a rumored lost city in the dense jungle-blanketed mountains of Honduras. With new technology, Steve Elkins hoped to finally uncover the location of the legendary White City sometimes called the City of the Monkey God many previous explorers had claimed to have seen but no definitive location had been put on the map. Elkins gathered a team of scientists, journalists and film makers to work together on this project. Preston relates the various phases to the search, spanning multiple years and trips to Honduras, and what they uncovered. He then goes on to look at history and science to determine what likely happened to the residents of this city, while also sharing a run-in the expedition crew had with a nasty parasite and why the world needs to be more informed about the need for a cure to this parasite.
The parasite parts are not for the faint of heart, but I appreciate how Preston used his experiences to bring awareness to a health issue that thousands of others face regularly. LIDAR is a nifty tool, and the things they are finding with its help are pretty astounding but this also shows you why they aren’t just scanning the whole planet with it. It also gives you a much better perspective of how long archaeology takes.
Target Readers:
Adventure Fans, Unsolved Real Mystery Fans, Honduras Setting Fans, Global Health Issues Awareness Story Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Adult Readers
The Lost City of Z: a Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
Most authorities on civilization agreed that the Amazon couldn't support a large civilization in ancient times, but one man disagreed. Percy Fawcett was a repeat Amazon adventurer, former British military man, who guarded secrets he believed would lead him to a huge ancient city he called Z. He set off for Z with his son and a friend of his son in 1925 and never returned. Over 100 people have gone into the Amazon jungles in search of Fawcett and many of them have also disappeared. David Grann got wind of this story, and decided he would try and find out if Fawcett's Z existed, if the new open records of the Explorer's Society would give him extra insight into where Fawcett was headed (since it was a closely guarded secret), and if the truth was out there. Part biography of the adventurer Fawcett, part history of the exploration/mapping of the world and the Amazon in particular, and part travel/research adventure of Grann's search for the truth.
This is a fascinating read that I found very hard to put down. Grann is a gifted writer.
Target Readers:
Armchair Amazon Explorers, Adventure Fans, Unsolved Real Mystery Fans, Survival Story Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Adult Readers
Lost in the Amazon: a Battle for Survival in the Heart of the Rainforest (Lost) by Tod Olson
The true story of how a teenage girl, Juliane Koepcke, survived an airplane coming apart in the air over the Amazon and then made it through the jungle to human rescue.
The fact that Juliane survived the fall, let alone the jungle is astounding. Of course, not many other teenagers, or adults for that matter, would have had the background knowledge that Juliane did. Her parents were both scientists studying creatures in the Amazon, and she had experience getting around and surviving in the jungle. Without the background she had, I don't think she'd have survived her days in the jungle. The author actually makes this point too with the stories of other explorers through the years who didn't make it through the Amazon jungle or who had super rough experiences.
Target Readers:
Survival Story Fans, Disaster Story Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Middle Grade/Young Adult Readers
Over and Under the Rainforest (Over and Under) by Kate Messner, ill. by Christopher Silas Neal
Two brothers make their way home through the Costa Rican rainforest and identify the various animals they see along the way for readers.
A beautiful introduction to a rainforest for kids. There are some rather obscure animals included in here along with the expected rainforest stars.
Target Readers:
Rainforest Studiers, Animal Lovers, Art Lovers, Nonfiction Fans, Picture Book Readers
The Quest for Z: the True Story of Explorer Percy Fawcett and a Lost City in the Amazon by Greg Pizzoli
A picture book biography of Percy Fawcett, a turn of the century British explorer who mapped many areas of the Amazon and disappeared into the jungle in a quest to find proof of an ancient major civilization in the Amazon which he referred to as Z.
Pizzoli has done an admirable job of summarizing Fawcett's life and accomplishments for kids. He also manages to convey the dangers of jungle exploration without traumatizing readers.
Target Readers:
Unsolved Real Mystery Fans, Picture Book Biography Fans, Adventure Fans, Armchair Amazon Explorers, Nonfiction Fans, Lower Grade Readers
No comments:
Post a Comment
Polite and respectful comments are welcome.