An Accidental Adventure: We Are Not Eaten By Yaks by C. Alexander London
Review by Chris Singer
About the author:
C. Alexander London is an award-winning author of nonfiction for grown-ups (under a slightly different not very secret name) and, as his official biography says, he really is an accomplished skeet-shooter, having once won a 12-gauge tournament because no one else had signed up in his age group. He's also a Master SCUBA diver, and, most excitingly (to him) a fully licensed and accredited librarian. He used to know the Dewey Decimal System from memory. He doesn't anymore.
While traveling as a journalist, he did indeed watch television in 23 countries (Burmese soap operas were the most confusing; Cuban news reports were the most dull). He survived an erupting volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a hurricane on small island in the Caribbean, 4 civil wars (one of them was over by the time he got there, thankfully), and a mysterious bite on his little toe in the jungles of Thailand. The bite got infected and swollen and gross and gave him a deep mistrust of lizards.
Although he has had many adventures, he really does prefer curling up on the couch and watching some good reality television or reading a book. Like Oliver and Celia Navel, he enjoys danger and intrigue far more when it's happening to somebody else.
About the book:
Eleven-year-old twins Oliver and Celia Navel do not like adventures--in fact, they would have preferred it if they had been left out of this story altogether. But, unfortunately for the twins, they live on the 4-1/2th floor of the Explorers Club with their parents--world-famous adventurers and daredevils. They've been dragged from adventure to adventure their entire lives, when all they've wanted to do is watch television. Now, their mother has gone missing and their father has bet the evil Sir Edmund S. Tithletorpe-Schmidt III that he'll make one of the greatest discoveries in history. And the stakes of his bet? Oliver and Celia will be his servants until the end of high school. Which, when you have only just finished fifth grade, is a long way off. So, the twins must give up their summer vacation to explore Tibet, where they fall out of airplanes, battle Yetis, discover secret caves, fly over waterfalls, and ride one very large yak. If they can survive their ordeal, decipher the clues, and outwit Sir Edmund, they might just reunite their family, save the world . . . and get cable television.
My take on the book:
This book is just a tremendous amount of fun. The Navel twins are not the typical characters you often see in tween adventure books as they are extremely reluctant adventurers to say the least. They are the envy of their classmates as they have traveled from one exotic locale to another with their world-famous Explorer Club member parents, meanwhile only hoping to catch their next favorite episodes on television.
Teachers will love this book and series as it provides further learning opportunities to find out more about some of the exotic locations and myths and legends surrounding the Navel twins adventures. In fact, you can visit C. Alexander London's website and check out some information about Tibet, the setting for this first book.
The author has a little knack for finding adventure himself. I didn't realize until I saw his website, that I had already read a book by C. Alexander London (or Charles London) called One Day The Soldiers Came, an incredibly powerful book about refugee children. I read it about 3 years ago and memories of reading it still resonate with me today.
Color me dually impressed then to see this fun and fast-flowing read with more than enough action, adventure and laughs to pique the interest of even the most reluctant of readers. I'm very much looking forward to the second book in the series.
