MG Action/Adventure review of The Endangereds by Philippe Cousteau and Austin Aslan

The Endangereds by Philippe Cousteau and Austin Aslan
Format:  E-ARC
Publisher:  Harper Collins
Number of Pages:  352
Publishing:  September 29th, 2020

Source:  Sparkpress in exchange for an honest review

Opening Line:  "The shore was too far away."

Endangereds is the first book in a new adventure series by world-renowned environmentalist Phillippe Cousteau and Austin Aslan, author of Turbo Racers.  It's being described as "The A-Team meets the animal kingdom," and I kind of like that pairing.  The cover certainly drew my attention. 

 

So what exactly are the Endangereds you may ask?  They're a group of wildlife animal defenders consisting of Arief the orangutan, their semi leader, Wangari, a pangolin adept with engineering all of their high tech gadgets, Murdock, a narwhal or their sarcastic communications expert, and the newest muscle recruit, Nuk the polar bear.  Currently they live in the Galapagos at the Ark, a safe zone designed by human researchers and scientists to keep away all outside threats.  Unbeknown to the scientists, the Endangereds have been going out on secret missions around the world to protect and defend endangered species.

Endangereds is an interesting story that I see appealing to children who are interested in environmental activism and animal science.   While Endangereds is designed as an action/adventure story, it does encourage children to think about climate change, the impact that humans are having on animals, and the ever changing ecosystems of animals today.  Part of the storyline even explains the benefits and difficulties faced with trying to reintroduce a species back into their natural habitat.  As your reading the story, the authors introduce the various habitats of each of the characters, from the climate to the vegetation.   I liked having the point of views shift between the various animals, although Nuk is probably still my favorite.  There's even some pretty cool gadgets, special headsets, computers, programming/coding and even an airplane rescue mission to keep things interesting.  Plus one surprise villainous character that I don't think we've seen the last of in this series.  

At the back of the book the authors include facts on each of the endangered animals from the story, what you can do to help, and even information on organizations like the World Wildlife Federation and Earthecho International.  The story never gets bogged down in the details of the various animals, but does encourage further thought and exploration on the topics of environmental activism.  I was especially struck with just how difficult a task animal conservation is and while there are valiant efforts being made to keep animals safe from predators, the animals are still being kept in a form of captivity which can lead to the animals loosing their natural hunt and survival instincts.  The story has the impactful message that even one small change can influence the balance of nature.   

   ** Thank you Sparkpress for the review copy**