Saturday, February 13, 2010

Island Sting-Bonnie J. Doerr

Island Sting
Bonnie J. Doerr
Leap, Dec 2009, $11.99
www.leapbks.com
ISBN: 9781616030025

Following her parents’ divorce, Kenzie Ryan left New York City to live with her mom Maggie on Big Pine Key 30 miles from Key West and 100 from the Mainland. . Hardly settled in the wildlife refuge location, Kenzie rescues a Key deer from drowning with the help of local Angelo who explains the animal is part of an endangered species.

However, Kenzie learns someone is poaching and killing the dwindling Key deer populace. She and Angelo team up to catch the poacher, unaware of the danger as the hunter soon changes game from deer to stalking amateur sleuthing teens.

Island Sting is an engaging young teen environmental investigative mystery starring two solid young caring teenagers. The story line is fast-paced and the whodunit contains several viable suspects. Readers will enjoy the adventures of Kenzie and Angelo as they try to protect the endangered Key deer from a poacher. Note that this is a major rewrite of preadolescent tale Kenzie’s Key targeting a slightly older audience and includes recent events like a reference to White House party crashing for instance.

Harriet Klausner

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