Customer Reviews

The Fire Bug Connection: An Ecological Mystery

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The main character in this book is a girl named Maggie. Every summer she goes to bug camp. A boy named Mitch also attends the camp. Maggie doesn't like him and thinks he's a pest.

Her mom, who studies the effect of acid rain on trees also goes to bug camp. Mr. Capek, another graduate scientist, comes to bug camp. It's Maggies birthday when he arrives so he gives her a present: a collection of firebugs.

Maggie loves them because of their colors. She promises to make Mr. capek a pillow, which is stuffed with pine neddles from a balsam fir. Mr. Capek, Maggies mom, and a bunch of others go on a field expedition.

While they are away Maggies firebugs pop and die. She notices that they won't grow up and calls them " peter pans". Maggie suspects that its the ravens in the area that caused the problem since they mean death in Mr. Capek's country.

Mitch does many tests on Maggies animals including Areaneus the spider, Myotis the bat, and a wasp.

Finally, Maggie suspects that the paper in the bug cage is to blame. She wonders if the chlorine in the paper was the culprit. Mitch takes a bug and puts chlorine on it but its not a good test, because chlorine will kill any bug. Then Mitch finds out it was a hormone that wouldn't let the bugs grow. Since it was the hormone the mystery had been solved.

This was not such a good book because of many reasons. It all took place in the same setting without much excitment. I like mysteries but not this kind.

Mystery and ecology collide--with varying fascinating, tedious, informative, thrilling, and confusing results--in Jean Craighead George's Eco-Mysteries series. The author of JULIE OF THE WOLVES, MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, and nearly one hundred other distinguished nature stories for young readers, Ms. George also wrote four mysteries--WHO REALLY KILLED COCK ROBIN?, THE CASE OF THE MISSING CUTTHROATS, THE MISSING 'GATOR OF GUMBO LIMBO, and this book, THE FIRE BUG CONNECTION. All include details into our environment and the factors that threaten to destroy parts of it. THE FIRE BUG CONNECTION falls a bit short of the other books in its series for a number of reasons. The story concerns a young entomologist named Maggie, and her enemy-turned-partner Mitch, as they try to solve the mystery of the deaths of Maggie's birthday present, a group of radiant fire bugs from the Czech Republic, at Maggie's home in a Maine Biological Research Station--Bug Camp. Mitch is convinced that global warming committed the crimes; Maggie immediately dismisses this idea (I never quite understood why). Acid rain is a factor, too, as well as chemicals that may exist in the paper in the fire bugs' containers, and, finally, the most unusual culprits, a raven and a balsam fir tree. The ending of the story seems overly complicated, but this may not be so for more scientific mature readers who, like Maggie and Mitch, know about the existence of many kinds of chemicals and where they can be found. I found myself concentrating less on the mystery of the destruction of the fire bugs and more on the amusing details around Bug Camp--Maggie's friends: a clan of bats, a wasp, and a spider--and how Mitch ever figured how to get rid of a computer virus without using a special disinfectant program. Anyone who is interested in the tiny but amazing world of insects and other "creepy" but splendid critters like ravens and bats, or anyone whose favorite things in school include science and reading mysteries, will find this book enjoyable, despite its occasional shortcomings.

"The Firebug Connection" is definatley a book that's going to go on my favorite's list. Not only does it teach us many new things in the scientific field, it tells us we can make friends with first- thought foes. Maggie and Mitch are determine to find the answer to the baffeling question that has to do with the wierd non- adult- maturing adolescent firebugs. This book has a lot to do with nature, some of the words in the book are challanging as they were for me. Jean Craighead George is a celebrated author and a great one. She did awesome work on this Eco Mystery!

The Firebug Connection is a book that kids like me will probably not get. IT has advanced words and I don't like it. The story plot is not that interesting. It is a mystery and the things that the people think is causing the problem was confusing and not understood by me.

The Fire Bug Connection wasn't all that interesting to me. There were two parts that I liked; When the bats could tell their batlets apart, and when the fire bugs died, they went 'POP'. I dislike this book because it felt like we were reading a science text book, more then a novel. I think that it was interesting when the bats could tell their batlets apart because I thought that bats were dumb mammals that were creepy, ugly,and their only intenisions are to freak people out. Now I know that they are much smarter then they look. I also thought that when the bugs went 'POP', it was neat. They died because a bug could die from going through metamorphoses. The reason that they died was because the sand paper in their cage had a hormone in it that a fir balsim tree had in it. The book felt like a science book I think because it had all these technical terms and I got confused alot of the time with all the creatures names, and pet names and everytying. Thats another reason why I dislike the novel. I give The Fire Bug Connection only two stars because I only thought that two parts of the book was interesting. I also didnt prefer the book because it seemed like reading a science text book, more then a novel. That's why I only gave it two stars.

The Fire Bug Conection - A raven flys by Maggie Mencer she admires its eye, wings as it flew by its beak and remembers the words of her grandmother " when a raven flys by you there will be a murder". Maggie a 12 yearold girl staying at a biological research station with a boy named Mitch. Maggie's getting "fire bugs" that Cappy, a graduate from Czech republic, has brought her, from his country, on the coincedence of it being on her birthday. For some unknown reason, after seeing a raven, Maggie sees that her fire bugs aren't molting from one stage of life to the next. The fire bugs grow realy big and turn into "peter pans" that cant grow out. It worries Maggie and doesn't tell anyone but Mitch. They start searching for clues. There guesses were : global worming, acid rain, the crow and they paper in the fire bugs terarium. As they surch for the answer evey thing is marked off the list but the paper they even got to see the proces what the paper goes throught they put in the tararium. Soon after Maggie has the idea and knows it has to do with the paper why the fire bugs are dieing but not just the paper and proces its self. It's the tree the paper was made out of, the tree was one thats not in the country the bugs are from because it can kill them especially since the bugs have been eating the paper.

It was a good book. Even though it is about bugs, and I hate bugs. But it is still good. It is basicly about a girl who studies bugs and has to watch a boy named, Mitch. The characters are pretty active. They don't really hang about bugs and insects. There's phantom along with the fact that the story tells so much more about science than a regular book. It is a gret book for people who are studying science. This is a popular book and it has many true facts. It will help people undrstand the main idea of science.

Maggie Mercer, lover of bugs, bats, and beetles, is very happy with her pet firebugs- until they start exploding! Even more suspicious, only the firebugs in the jars are dying! Who, or what, could possibly be murdering her favorite birthday present? Could it be something she is feeding them? Or something in the glass that the jars are made of? She and Mitch, an annoying yet helpful computer whiz who is staying with her while their parents are on an important scientific exploration, consider everything as a suspect, or at least a clue. This is a wonderful book! It is perfect for anyone who loves nature, and a good mystery,(like me.) If you like this book, then I also recommend,"The Missing 'Gator of Gumbo Limbo," or,"Who Really Killed Cock Robin?" some other really good ecological mysteries by Jean Craighead George.

This book is about a thirteen year old girl named Maggie. The setting is at bug camp. Then she got a present for her thirteenth birthday by a guy named Capek. The present was fire bugs. Then they started to die and she wanted to find out what was killing them. She was thinking it was paper from the trees, so then she went to the mill to see if the trees were making them die. She thought the trees was killing them because they think there is a hormone in the trees and there was a hormone in the trees. The hormone was stoping them from growing and then they eventually died (poped).

In this book the main character is named Maggie. She goes to bug camp and meets a boy named Mitch. She thinks he is a big pest. Her mother studies the trees. A man named Mr. Capek comes to her moms lab. They go to study the trees. A raven comes and Maggies fire bugs started dying. She thinks it's a raven because in Capeks country they mean death. They go to the mill and find out that it is a hormone that turned the fire bugs into 'Peter Pans', which means they die. I give The Fire Bug Connection a three star rating. I give this because a rather boring book. It didn't interest me very much. It would have been more interesting if there was more drama, or interesting things happening; not just bugs.