RED FLAG WARNING

In this middle-grade adventure, three diverse teens fight to save endangered animals.

Aisyah Muti, Kirri King, and Hector Alvarez live in different places around the world but share two important things: their love for endangered creatures and the environmental fires that changed their lives. Sixteen-year-old Aisyah toils on a palm oil plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia—until a forest fire leaves her with devastating injuries and permanent scars. Aisyah is rescued by an orangutan named Pongo, whom the teen saved as a baby and who now has an infant of her own. Their bond leads Aisyah to leave the plantation and work with her father at a wildlife rescue facility. In western Australia, Indigenous teen Kirri is a dedicated runner with big dreams. But when her ultramarathon is interrupted by a devastating fire, she focuses her energy on nurturing a baby wallaby she calls Bultarro (the Aboriginal name for wallaby), who has her own challenges. Meanwhile in Northern California, Hector is an enthusiastic member of his school’s Youth Audubon Club who, with the help of his teachers, is training a hawk called Swain to hunt until a deadly wildfire leaves the teen with physical limitations. When Hector finds Aisyah and Kirri in an online support group, the three immediately grow close—but as they will soon learn, not everyone has the best of intentions when it comes to their beloved animals. Datnow, a former creative writing teacher and native of South Africa, demonstrates her passion for ecology on every page through descriptions of creature care and feeding, maps of each area featured in the story, and uncredited photographs. A guide at the end of the book points interested readers toward more resources from NASA and Cornell University as well as the United States government. The tale is educational but not condescending to its middle-grade audience, though at times the characters act younger than teenagers, with spontaneous and childish outbursts. Additionally, the author uses outdated terms for disabilities, and there is a sudden change of perspective (third person to first person) without warning or explanation.