Jungle of Bones

by Ben Mikaelsen (Author)

Jungle of Bones
Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade
When sullen teenager Dylan Barstow is caught joyriding in a stolen car he is sent to his ex-Marine uncle for the summer, but soon they are on the way to Papua New Guinea in search of a World War II fighter plane and Dylan discovers that defiance is not a survival skill when you are lost in a jungle.
Select format:
Prebound-Glued
$17.20

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8--Dylan Barstow steals a junkyard car for a joyride, landing him in jail, and exasperating his widowed mom. The seventh grader is sent off with Uncle Todd, who is assembling a search team to find Second Ace, Grandpa Henry's B-17 bomber that crashed in the jungles of Papua New Guinea (PNG) during World War II. Dylan's own journalist father died in Darfur, on a peacekeeping mission, and he has yet to come to terms with the loss. The protagonist begins reading Grandpa Henry's journal that chronicles the Japanese aerial attack on Second Ace, and learns that a trek to PNG promises malaria, headhunters, crocs, snakes, and rats-plus an airplane wreck with the probable bones of his grandfather's crewmen. Despite Todd's patience with his nephew, the boy flushes his malaria pills down the toilet and is antagonistic toward the search team. Dylan wanders too far away from camp, and his irresponsibility is the beginning of a survival tale rivaling Grandpa Henry's own. In scenes reminiscent of the his Touching Spirit Bear (HarperCollins, 2001), Mikaelsen calls up native spirits. In this case "Kanzi" appears as a young girl who guides Dylan to the plane wreckage and keep him safe, albeit suffering from malaria, leeches, and gangrene. Dylan's attitude adjustment is predictable, but not too maudlin, and is offset by realistic skepticism from Uncle Todd. The details of war and jungle dangers will make this a good addition to middle grade adventure survival collections.--Vicki Reutter, State University of New York at Cortland

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Ben Mikaelsen
Ben Mikaelsen is the award-winning author of many books for children, including Petey, Countdown, Rescue Josh McGuire, Stranded, and Sparrow Hawk Red. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780606377911
Lexile Measure
770
Guided Reading Level
X
Publisher
Scholastic Inc.
Publication date
November 20, 2015
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV001010 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure | Survival Stories
Library of Congress categories
Adventure and adventurers
Adventure stories
Uncles
Survival
Teenagers
Quests (Expeditions)
Adventure fiction
Jungle survival
Papua New Guinea
Jungles
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award
Nominee 2016 - 2016
South Carolina Childrens, Junior and Young Adult Book Award
Nominee 2015 - 2016

Subscribe to our delicious e-newsletter!