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Middle schooler and television star
Buck Bray is back for a third outing, this time bringing his intrepid detecting
skills to Yellowstone National Park.
He’s accompanied by his partner in crime
prevention, Toni, the daughter of the cameraman who films the national park–related
documentaries. Shortly after the kids meet the twins Kale and Kayla Kolson,
also middle schoolers, in the park, it becomes clear that someone is illegally flying
drones there. Then coyotes and a wolf turn up dead from poison. Reviewing some
of the show’s film, Kale and Buck realize the poisoner is using a large,
expensive drone to deliver the lethal bait to the animals. Kale, who has
Asperger’s, is a talented drone flyer. So is Jason, an older boy who’s also
camping in the park. Finally, there’s Lyall, the president of the drone flying
club, all of the fliers drawn to the area by a nearby drone competition. Young
cleverly inserts ample red herrings, sustaining the suspense while including
lots of information about both the park and the wolf packs that have been
reintroduced there. None of the characters have physical descriptions (except
for age), which combines with the cover depiction of light-skinned Buck and
Toni to imply the white default. Information about drone flying adds additional
appeal to this engaging tale.
Substantially the best of the
mystery/travelogue series to date, this one suffers from fewer credibility
issues than the previous entries. (Mystery. 9-12)
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