ABOUT THE BOOK
Armando and the Amazing Animal Race
Written by Diana Schaffter
Ages: 8-12 | 350 Pages
Publisher: Sea Otter Press (2025) | ISBN: 978-1-0690795-1-0
Publisher’s Book Summary: Two unlikely teammates on a grueling continent-hopping race. Their mission: to photograph 7 endangered animals in just 70 days… and solve a baffling family mystery.
When twelve-year-old Armando stumbles on his mother’s old race journal and convinces his wacky grandmother to join the Amazing Animal Race—the same race his mother disappeared on eight years earlier—his summer explodes into a wild global adventure. Armed with night vision goggles, bear spray, and support from his tech-savvy friend Jinny, Armando faces a charging polar bear, poachers’ bullets, and ruthless rivals as he races across the icy Arctic to the steamy Amazon rainforest. What starts as a race to help endangered animals and the environment spirals into a treacherous quest to unravel a mystery that will change Armando’s family—and his life—forever.
Packed with thrilling action, laugh-out-loud moments, and unforgettable characters, Armando and the Amazing Animal Race takes readers on a whirlwind journey of self-discovery across the globe. This heart-warming tale of family, mystery, and wildlife conservation will inspire adventurers, both young and old, to see the world and themselves in a whole new light.
“. . . a whirlwind of an environmentally minded tale. . .”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS – “OUR VERDICT: √ GET IT!”
“. . .fantastically engaging . . . super fun as well as poignant. . .”
—JENNIFER REES, editor, Explorer Academy, National Geographic
“. . . will resonate with anyone who yearns for adventure…”
—MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
PURCHASE LINK
MY REVIEW
Forget Phileas Fogg and careening around the world in just 80 days - Armando and his grandmother are going to travel to exotic locales and photograph endangered animals in 70 days or less. When Armando gets on a plane to stay with his grandmother in England for the summer, he never dreams that they will enter the same competition that his mother disappeared from eight years ago. And his father has no idea either. Armando’s mother was a famous wildlife photographer and a participant in the first Amazing Animal Race. Now he and Granny D have the chance to compete in the second race and try to make his mother’s dream of the family competing together come true. They will have to find seven animals and get photos of them, then be the first to turn the photos in at the finish line in order to win. Armando has discovered his mother’s old race journal and carries it with him. It comes in handy with fascinating facts about animals as well as contact information for people in the locations they will visit. But not everything is wonderful. His father is busy helping to clean up an oil spill and doesn’t know what Armando and Granny D are up to, so he will be very upset when he finds out. A big corporate sponsor of the race is trying to get endorsements from all the contestants and are not very scrupulous in doing so. Another family in the race includes an uncle with an extremely spoiled nephew who is no fun to have around. And it seems someone wants to win so badly that they are trying to push everyone else out of the running. There is plenty of action - hot air balloon rides, desert sandstorms, deadly snakes, grouchy polar bears and more. There is also suspense. What happened to his mother? Are they in danger of the same fate? Do the competitors who are acting suspiciously know something about her or can one of the contacts in her journal help them find the truth? And what will happen when his father finally realizes that Armando and Granny D are not relaxing and sightseeing in London? Besides a story that introduces readers to different locations and endangered animals around the world, there are also several other helpful features. Maps are included to help track the progress of the race. Discussion questions are included. A note from the author explaining the inspiration behind the story. And a QR code makes it easy to access additional resources on the author’s website - including a list of all 88 animals mentioned in the book, sorted according to their IUC classification. These extras would make the book easy to incorporate into a class study of endangered animals.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In researching her story, she followed in the footsteps of her main character, Armando, traveling to Southern India to search for wild cobras with the Irula tribe, to Vladivostok, Russia, to see a Siberian tiger with a local conservationist, to the home of the elusive desert leopard in the Judean desert in Israel; and into the thick Brazilian Amazon rainforest to visit an Indigenous tribe and to photograph a pied tamarin monkey. Wherever she has lived, Diana has witnessed the power of human resilience, cooperation, and caring, which inspires her writing. Diana and her co-adventurer husband, Tim, now live in Sidney, BC, Canada, where she continues to write, give talks in schools and communities, and work with young people.
For more information, visit: dianaschaffter.com.
https://www.instagram.com/dianaschaffter/
https://www.facebook.com/dianaschaffterwriter/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/54505014.Diana_Schaffter
TOUR SCHEDULE
This post is sponsored by Diana Schaffter. The review and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal views.
No comments:
Post a Comment