NORBU’S SECRET

In Klisanin’s middle-grade SF novel, tween friends who’ve vowed to save the future embark on a mission in the Amazon rainforest.

In this sequel to the author’s Future Hack(2023), tween student Lexa knows of an impending mass extinction event thanks to Norbu, a time traveler from the future who appeared to her as a “holographic blue boy.” She and her pals Jack, Sage, and Will have resolved to undertake a “series of critical missions” to thwart this catastrophe. With one mission down, their next stop is the Amazon to investigate the disappearances of jaguars. With their parents’ permission, the four kids go alone (they do have a self-driving van that transforms into an airship). Lexa and the others brave dangerous rainforest wildlife and merciless poachers to find the jaguars, in addition to an inexplicably missing shaman. Meanwhile, at Global Anticipatory Intelligence Agency headquarters, Norbu can’t access the Time Portal, which he technically wasn’t allowed to use in the first place. This prevents him from warning his friends from the past that their tech may soon be inoperable and no help at all. Klisanin delivers an impactful environmental message organically fused with a diverting adventure. The story aptly spotlights the culture of Indigenous people (the Achuar) and makes clear that the rainforest’s perils are parts of the natural world. The real villain is a sinister corporation that played a crucial role in the preceding installment; this is one of many returning elements that make reading the earlier book a virtual necessity for appreciating this outing. The smart, youthful heroes are a joy to follow as they bicker (never excessively) and plausibly fail on occasion, turning setbacks into learning opportunities. Melisca Klisanin’s black-and-white artwork (incorporating green highlights for vegetation) is sublime but oddly inconsistent—there’s a mix of childlike illustrations (possibly from Sage’s sketchpad) and crisply rendered, indelible images of such animals as monkeys and a parakeet.

A winsome environmental yarn that will surely leave readers craving further adventures.