The Explorer

by Katherine Rundell Narrated by Peter Noble

Overview

From Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner Katherine Rundell comes an exciting new novel about a group of kids who must survive in the Amazon after their plane crashes. Fred, Con, Lila, and Max are on their way back to England from Manaus when the plane they're on crashes and the pilot dies upon landing. For days they survive alone, until Fred finds a map that leads them to a ruined city, and to a secret.

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - Eliot Schrefer

The Explorer moves at a good clip, its short scenes packed with crackling dialogue, and Rundell brings wonderful gusto to her descriptions of the many discomforts of junglelife…There's a classic feel to this story from its very start, with its crisply characterized quartet, the kids flawed but courageous, facing exciting dangers that the reader is certain they will overcome…With its fine balance of menace and cheer…The Explorer is perfectly suited to its middle-grade audience. It is a book to kindle imaginations. And though it emphasizes the fantastic otherness of the jungle in a way that feels almost antique, young readers will finish it with an impression of the grandeur of the natural world. It's a lesson we'll be learning and forgetting forever…

Publishers Weekly

★ 07/10/2017
A plane crash strands four children in the Amazon in this mesmerizing tale of courage and adventure from Rundell (The Wolf Wilder). Fred, Con, Lila, and Lila’s five-year-old brother, Max, must face predators (including piranhas and caimans), growing hunger, and extreme elements if they hope to find their way back to civilization. A map, found by chance, charts their course, leading them to a ruined city of secrets. The dangers of the Amazon leap from the pages, as does the daring the main characters display amid overwhelming circumstances. Readers will be fascinated by the lengths the children go to in order to survive: “The grubs, when mixed with the cocoa beans and pounded with a clean stick, turned into a paste, which, if you squinted and were of an optimistic temperament, looked like flour and water.” A quieter thread contemplates the nature of exploration and curiosity, tying into the enigmatic city of ruins. Fans of survival stories like Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain are an ideal audience for this fast-paced escapade with a lush and captivating setting. Ages 8–12. Agent: Claire Wilson, Rogers, Coleridge & White. (Sept.)

School Library Journal

★ 09/01/2017
Gr 5–8—The fiery crash of a six-seater plane, following the apparent heart attack of its pilot, leaves British adolescents Fred and Con and Brazilian children Lila and her brother Max stranded in the Amazon jungle, having escaped the flames and left relatively unhurt, but with little knowledge of how to survive. Strangers to one another, the three young teens must overcome their emotional baggage and learn to cooperate in order to deal with the needs and antics of five-year-old Max. Building a raft, they intend to follow the river to Manaus using a map they find hidden in a tree, but their journey leads them to an ancient lost city and a strange man who is possibly a famous explorer who disappeared years before. The author's knowledge of the flora and fauna of the Amazon lends authenticity to the setting as the children experience both beauty and danger, pooling their own limited knowledge to build a fire, extract honey from a beehive, eat grub pancakes, watch cavorting pink dolphins, adopt a baby sloth, avoid treacherous piranhas and caimans, and face their fears and personal histories. Each character has a unique backstory and talent or special interest that contributes to his/her survival. Elegant descriptive passages and lyrical writing ("The fire made a noise like an idea being born, a roar that sounded like hope") enhance but also occasionally jar the fast-paced, often gritty narrative. VERDICT Fans of adventure novels such as Gary Paulsen's Hatchet or Willard Price's "Adventure" series (which are also favorites of Rundell) will enjoy this jam-packed survival story.—Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

Kirkus Reviews

2017-07-02
A crash-landing in the Amazon leaves four children stranded in the deep jungle. They are Fred, a tall, white English boy, biracial Brazilian siblings Lila and 5-year-old Max, and a pale, white English girl, Constantia. Together they search for shelter and forage for edible fruits and larva. When Fred stumbles upon an old map, they decide to follow it to the X. In their handmade raft the crew travels down the river, through murky and clear waters, until they rediscover a lost city. Among the ruins they meet a mysterious man. He refuses to give his name, but will he refuse to help them get home? Rundell breathes character into the Amazon rain forest. The sounds, smells, flora, and fauna are vivid and tangible in the mind. The children are not as colorful, unfortunately. Fred, Lila, and Con give voice to their fears at every step, from climbing trees to facing down wild animals. Max has brief moments of wisdom in between bouts of tears or unbridled joy. The unnamed explorer does add some vibrancy to the book and commands attention despite the lush backdrop. His commentary on the effects of European imperialism is commendable although brief. A tropical action-filled adventure with heart. (Adventure. 8-12)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170530724
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	04/06/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

The Explorer
LIKE A MAN-MADE MAGIC wish, the Airplane began to rise.

The boy sitting in the cockpit gripped his seat and held his breath as the plane roared and climbed into the arms of the sky. Fred’s jaw was set with concentration, and his fingers followed the movements of the pilot beside him: fuel gauge, throttle, joystick.

The airplane vibrated as it flew faster, following the swerve of the Amazon River below them. Fred could see the reflection of the six-seater plane, a spot of black on the vast sweep of blue as it sped toward Manaus, the city on the water. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and pressed his forehead against the window.

Behind Fred sat a girl and her little brother. They had the same slanted eyebrows and the same brown skin, the same long eyelashes. The girl had been shy, hugging her parents until the last possible moment at the airfield; now she was staring down at the water, singing under her breath. Her brother was trying to eat his seat belt.

In the next row, on her own, sat a pale girl with blond hair down to her waist. Her blouse had a neck ruffle that came up to her chin, and she kept tugging it down and grimacing. She was determinedly not looking out the window.

The airfield they had just left had been dusty and almost deserted, just a strip of tarmac under the ferocious Brazilian sun. Fred’s cousin had insisted that he wear his school uniform, and now, inside the hot airless cabin, Fred felt like he was being gently cooked inside his own skin.

The engine gave a whine, and the pilot frowned and tapped the joystick. He was old and soldierly, with brisk nostril hair and a gray waxed mustache that seemed to reject the usual laws of gravity. He touched the throttle, and the plane soared upward, higher into the clouds.

It was almost dark when Fred first began to worry. The pilot began to belch, first quietly, then violently and repeatedly. His hand gave a sudden jerk, and the plane dipped drunkenly to the left. Someone screamed behind Fred. The plane lurched away from the river and over the canopy.

Fred stared at the man; he was turning the same shade of gray as his mustache. “Are you all right, sir?” he asked.

The pilot grunted, gasped, and wound back the throttle, slowing the engine. He gave a cough that sounded like a choke.

“Is there something I can do?” asked Fred.

Fighting for breath, the pilot shook his head. He reached over to the control panel and cut the engine. The roar ceased. The nose of the plane dipped downward. The trees rose up.

“What’s happening?” asked the blond girl sharply. “What’s he doing? Make him stop!”

The little boy in the back began to shriek. The pilot grasped Fred’s wrist, hard, for a single moment; then his head slumped against the dashboard.

And the sky, which had seconds before seemed so reliable, gave way.

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