Sydney Cabella talks to animals. Big animals. Wild animals. Endangered animals. They never talk back. Until one day, they do.
A POLAR BEAR.
That’s what eleven-year-old Sydney sees the moment she and her family land in the Svalbard airport. He’s hungry and desperate and wearing a tracking collar that looks way too tight. Usually, Sydney loves seeing animals with her photojournalist parents and twin sister, Sierra but this time, the sight is just so sad. She wants to do something, but what?
As the family explores the amazing Arctic ecosystem, Sydney accidentally hits her head and when she wakes up, the impossible has happened: she can talk to animals and the animals can finally talk back! And the first animal who speaks up is a ringed seal named Ringo who needs her help big time.
With just 72 hours before she leaves the Arctic, Sydney, and her brainiac sister must join forces and put their squabbles aside to decipher Ringo’s clues, messages, and sea ice antics. When he leads them back to the elusive polar bear, Sydney realizes just how interconnected their lives really are. One depends on the other. And both are depending on her.
A heartfelt, eco-adventure about the complexities of how habitats are affected by climate change and that small steps can make a big difference.
Other Awards
For Educators
Twins on a mission. Talking with animals. Tackling the greatest threats against ocean habitats.
A SEA OTTER.
Fresh from their Arctic adventure of saving polar bears, eleven-year-old twins Sydney and Sierra visit a sea kelp habitat off the coast of California. While scuba diving, Sydney meets her animal contact, a sea otter named Sunny, who enlists Sydney’s help. Ocean plastic pollution has entangled another otter, and it needs to be rescued. Even if the girls are able to release the otter from its plastic prison, there’s a much greater threat in the ocean.
Together, they’ll have to use all of their wits, ingenuity, and determination to somehow help their animal friends. But as they try and fail again and again, Sydney has a sinking feeling that she’s in over her head. One thing is clear: there’s literally no time to waste.
The exciting second installment in the award-winning Eco Warriors series will transform readers’ eco-anxiety into eco-action, inspiring a new generation of youth activists.
No Time To Waste takes young readers on an enthralling oceanic odyssey…A captivating tale with an increasingly relevant message about plastic pollution and marine life conservation.
—Readers Favorite 5-star review
Chris, a 12-year-old African American boy from Chicago, never expected to find himself in the remote western Serengeti of Africa.
So when he moves there with his parents to help them run a tented safari camp, he has a hard time adjusting. Where once school and friends were the norm, Chris’s new reality includes unpredictable Internet service and wild animals running through the camp.
Then Chris meets Khalid, a young Maasai warrior who teaches him not just the Swahili language but also all about the land, the animals and the very heart of the Serengeti. When a local elephant is illegally hunted for its ivory tusks, Chris fights to save the majestic animal and the fantastic new place he now calls home.
Staff Recommendation
HIDDEN GEMS for youth fiction— Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District
Spring March-May 2021
