The Quest for Z: The True Story of Explorer Percy Fawcett and a Lost City in the Amazon

by Greg Pizzoli (Author)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

From an award-winning author comes a picture book biography that feels like Indiana Jones for kids!

British explorer Percy Fawcett believed that hidden deep within the Amazon rainforest was an ancient city, lost for the ages. Most people didn't even believe this city existed. But if Fawcett could find it, he would be rich and famous forever. This is the true story of one man's thrilling, dangerous journey into the jungle, and what he found on his quest for the lost city of Z.

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$17.99

Kirkus

Starred Review

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.

ALA/Booklist

With a focus on mystery, peril, and adventure, this inviting biography should easily pique the curiosity of the elementary-school set.

School Library Journal

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.

Publishers Weekly

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. (June)

Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

* A compelling narrative with important facts.—School Library Connection, starred review


Praise for Greg Pizzoli's Tricky Vic:

Selected for The New York Times ten Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2015

Selected for Amazon's Best Books of the Year list

Selected for the American Library Association's Notable Children's Books List

Splendid. . . . Loaded with facts but with good storytelling and high-level illustration. . . . I'm thrilled that Pizzoli has chosen to present [Tricky Vic's] story so compellingly to our nation's children.—The New York Times

Intriguing.—The Wall Street Journal

What a con job! I mean that in the best possible way. Vic was tricky but so is Greg Pizzoli. His storytelling and mixed-media artwork is rendered with expert sleight of hand.—Lane Smith, author/illustrator of It's a Book and the Caldecott Honor book Grandpa Green

It's hard enough to make a well-told story out of real-life things—it's almost unfair that he could also make it this pretty.—Jon Klassen, author and illustrator of the Caldecott Medal winner This Is Not My Hat

* An appealingly colorful, deadpan account of a remarkably audacious and creative criminal.—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* What a fabulous story.—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review
Greg Pizzoli
Greg Pizzoli is an author, illustrator and screen printer. When not chomping down on watermelon, he can be found in his studio or teaching at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he also received his MFA. This is his first book. Visit him at www.gregpizzoli.com.

Awards
2011 52nd Communication Arts Illustration Annual: Self Promotion Category
2011 Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Illustrator Showcase Honor Award
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9780670016532
Lexile Measure
1190
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication date
June 13, 2017
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF007020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Historical
JNF025060 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | Central & South America
JNF025080 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | Exploration & Discovery
Library of Congress categories
Great Britain
Description and travel
Travel
JUVENILE NONFICTION / Biography & Autobiograp
Brazil
Explorers
JUVENILE NONFICTION / History / Exploration &
JUVENILE NONFICTION / History / Central & Sou
Fawcett, Percy Harrison

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