Thunder Cave [Paperback]

Roland Smith (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 1 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Determined, after his mother's accidental death, to foil his stepfather's plans for his future, fourteen-year-old Jacob travels alone to Africa in search of his father, a biologist studying elephants in a remote area of Kenya.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-A maddening mix of adventure imbued with Hopi and Masai mysticism. Fourteen-year-old Jake Lansa, a half-Italian, half-Hopi boy who lives in New York City with his mother and stepfather, both anthropology professors, corresponds with his father, an idealistic field biologist studying elephants in Kenya. After his mother is run over by a car while jogging, Jake decides Kenya is a better bet than being shipped off to his relatives in Nebraska. One hitch is that his father is unreachable somewhere out in the bush. After surviving a mugging in Nairobi, Jake bicycles his way west, right past lions and warthogs. He befriends a well-educated Masai and together, their mission somehow linked by Jake's grandfather's kachina, they bring rain to the drought-stricken country, drive out ruthless poachers, and, of course, find Dr. Lansa. Survival tips, like learning how to stalk animals by seeing through their eyes, are engrossing, and the butchery of the elephants by the poachers is sobering. The conservation message isn't too ponderous, but other aspects of the story are preachy, and the "voice-overs"-prophetic words uttered by Jake's father and grandfather-are repetitive and soon grate. The "you're here for a reason" theme is disappointing in the otherwise real and appealing My Side of the Mountain-like teenage-survival story.
John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TX
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 5^-8. After his mother is killed in a jogging accident and his stepfather decides to ship him off to live with relatives in Nebraska, 14-year-old Jacob Lansa opts to travel to Kenya in search of his father, a wildlife biologist tracking elephant herds. While crossing the Kenyan bush, Jacob meets Supeet, a young Masai on a quest to end the drought, and the two join forces. On their trek they encounter a dangerous ring of poachers, whose greed threatens Africa's wildlife with extinction. Although the novel is longer than most for this age group, the action never flags, and Smith's focus on local color and vivid attention to detail will make readers feel they are participants in Jacob's experiences. Reminiscent of Gary Paulsen's survival novels, this will appeal to adventure buffs. Eric Campbell's A Place of Lions (1991) provides a related look at east equatorial Africa. Kay Weisman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 1 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (January 1, 1900)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786814519
• ISBN-13: 978-0786811595
• ASIN: 0786811595
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roland Smith is a former zookeeper and leading expert on red wolves as well as an author. He lives on a small farm near Portland, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dereks Book Review for Thunder Cave, February 9, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Thunder Cave (Paperback)

This story is the best yet of Roland Smith. If you like any of his other books this one you will love. It has the same theme of his Crypid hunter book at the begging of it. Anyway the story starts out in Nww York CIty. Jacob comes home from a regular day of school. He thens gets a message that his mom has been hit by a car. She ends up dying in intensive care. They have a funeral for her in a small chapel. Jacob try to get of Robet Lansa, known as Dr. Lansa, also Jacobs dad. He cant get a hold of him. His dad is a field bioligist in Kenya. Sam has got a new job and has decided that Jacob has to move with his aunt and uncle. Jacob dosent does like that and decides to move with Kenya with his dad. His dad dosent even know that. Jacob gathers his supplies and goes to talk to Taw, his uncle. Taw gives Jacob some avise and an amulet. When he gets to Kenya and goes through customs he finds out he can t keep his food. He hes is going into Kenya with no food while theres a drought. So he leaves the the airport and gets a hotel. The next day he goes and gets some food. Someone steals his bike and he follows them and gets beaten up and his food gets stolen. He goes to the hotel and gets a good nights rest. The next day he goes and finds his bike and steals it back. The next day he heads into Kenya. He faces many problems along the plain, like meating a lion face to face and facing dehydration. After almost dying of dehydration he meats a man named Supeet. He learns a lot from Supeet. They then learn how to perform a rain ceromony. They then peform it in Thunder Cave. Jacob gets captured by poachers.

This is the best book ive ever read!!!
Read it youll love it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thunder Cave was an excellent book, from beginning to end., November 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Thunder Cave (Paperback)

The whole story is an adventure, its fun, interesting and realistic. I recommend this book to anyone who can read. Believe me, you won't be able to put the book down!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hard to suspend disbelief, December 8, 2009

By 

J. Grambo "Teacher" (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thunder Cave (Paperback)

Jacob's parents are divorced and he hasn't seen his dad for a couple of years, since his mom remarried. His dad writes often, though, from his research camp in Kenya where he studies elephant behavior. Jacob's life was pretty predictable until the day his mom was hit by a car. She died that night. Jacob's stepdad was offered a job in Honduras, and he doesn't want to be responsible for Jacob, so he plans to send him away -- not to his dad, but to relatives Jacob barely knows.

Jacob's opportunity to change his living arrangements comes the next day when his stepdad leaves for a business meeting out of town. Jacob already has a passport. He withdraws all his money from his bank (will a bank allow a kid to withdraw hundreds of dollars?) and pawns his mother's diamond rings. (Will a pawnshop transact business with a minor?) With the money, he buys a plane ticket to Nairobi that leaves in two days. (Will a travel agent sell a ticket to a third world country to an unaccompanied minor?) Then Jacob goes to the Kenyan Embassy and convinces them to give him a visa immediately. (Hmmm. This one is the hardest to believe. Visas take time and political pull. No one can walk in to the embassy and walk out with a visa. You have to apply, and then wait, sometimes as much as 6 months.) Since he will be biking across Kenya, Jacob packs his camping gear, and has the airline load his bike with the luggage.

Jacob was in Nairobi less than a day when his bike was stolen and he was beaten up. From this point on, the story is an exciting "My Side of the Mountain" adventure, with interesting face-to-face meetings with wild animals and even ivory poachers. There is drought and danger at every turn as Jacob pushes into the wild, parched country to find his father.

I understand that the author had to figure out a way to get the boy into Africa unaccompanied, but it was difficult for me to believe that it could have happened this way. On the other hand, children are less informed about the ins and outs of international travel, and will probably go right along with the possibilities here.

Boys in 4th to 8th grade who like danger and adventure will love this book.