The Wildes: The Amazon Book 1 by Roland Smith (SSYRA)

To purchase this novel with my Amazon link, click here ->https://amzn.to/3XdxttL

Description:

Ring and Asia Wilde's life is anything but ordinary. Some of their closest friends are endangered monkeys and rare birds. Instead of attending middle school, they accompany their parents (scientists who work to save endangered species) on adventures around the world. They spend more time climbing trees, tracking animal prints, and taking on three-hundred-pound anacondas than they do filling out worksheets. But a research trip to the Amazon rainforest turns into a dangerous mystery when their mother goes missing. Who kidnapped Dr. Jane Wilde, and why? Ring and Asia have the skills to survive the jungle--but do they have what it takes to rescue their mom?

Age Recommendation: 9-13, 3rd-6th Grade

General Content:

Language: 0/10- No derogatory language/ references.

Alcohol & Drugs: 2/10- Some reference to cigars/cigarettes, a mention of being drugged.

Violence & Gore: 3/10- Some mentions of using a rifle/shotgun, Mrs.Wilde is taken hostage, multiple instances of harming others for self-defense. However, nothing is prolonged or graphic.

Sexual Content: 0/10- No sexual content.

Parent Guide:

Tropes: Wilderness survival, search and rescue mystery, and eco conservation.

Ch. 1

-Ring and Asia, brother and sister, are searching for their mom (Dr. Jane Wilde) in the rainforest where she’s currently working. They are talking about how they feel like their mom forgets about them at times when she is working, but they are still happy with their strange life and all the places they get to travel.

-Asia and Ring make it back to camp to find that everyone is gone, along with the boat key, satellite phone, and gear. In the distance, they see a “monster” approaching.

Ch. 2

-The two discover that it’s not a monster, but their tutor, Professor Bob, covered in mud from head to toe.

-Asia writes in her field guide (diary) about missing her parents and doubting their love for her as their almost always working and rarely get to see her or Ring: “Do they want us here?… I love my parents, and I’m pretty sure they love me…most of the time. I respect the work they do for animals and conservation. But why have children? I think they had Ring so I’d have someone to keep me company.”.

-Asia wakes up feeling like someone is watching her.

Ch.3

-Ring wakes up to a stranger near their camp, who is from the indigenous tribe called the “Kayapo”. His name is Raoni, and he seems harmless. They invite him to eat with them, and he warns them that they are “not safe”.

Ch. 9

-While watching the game cameras, Ring and Asia see two men appear on one of their mother’s platforms. They rummage through the supply cases, then light cigarettes. When their mom goes to inspect, they grab her, tie her hands, and take her away. Raoni notices that he knows them, realizing they had come to his town days before offering money in return for killing the monkey Asia and Ring’s mom cares for.

Ch. 10-11

-The kids, Professor Bob, and Raoni discuss how they will find their mom, hoping she is okay. They chose to leave at daybreak and search for her.

Ch. 13

-The group finds cigarette butts on the ground from the men who took their mom.

Ch. 15

-Two men guard where others are digging for gold; they carry shotguns.

Ch. 18

-Asia and Ring see their mother’s captors riding ATVs into the jungle, both carrying pistols. They decide to follow them and see where they’re going.

-They meet the owner of the gold mine, who smokes a cigar as they talk.

Ch. 21

-The four talk about how they will rescue Mrs.Wilde if she’s injured, how they’ll travel, etc.

Ch. 23

-Raoni and the kids find the trailer that their mom is being kept in, they sneak closer, and Raoni does a jaguar call. The captor that is there runs out, and Raoni shoots him in the shoulder with an arrow. He then hits him over the head with a tree branch, causing him to bleed (the author makes sure to note that he is very much still alive). They sneak inside and find their mom.

Ch. 24

-After being tied up, Dr. Wildes' captor wakes up and starts to “struggle and curse”. Raoni dresses his wounds before they leave.

-Raoni takes the pistols he’s found and throws them and their bullets into the forest. Ring asks why they aren’t “taking the guns”, to which Raoni replies, “We aren’t fighting these men…we’re evading them”.

-Dr. Wilde tells them that she was being drugged and that she noticed they had been slipping it into her food, so she stopped eating.

-Feeling guilty for working alone and getting taken, Dr. Wilde says that she is “a terrible mother”. When the kids reassure her that she is not, she says, “at the very least, I’ve been an absent mother”, and then commits to making changes when they get back.

Ch. 27

-Before leaving, Ring slashes the boats of the captors, so that they could escape safely downstream.

Ch. 32

-The group splits up, with Dr. Wilde, Ring, and Asia going back to the platform to check on the animals, and Raoni and Professor Bob going to the nearest major city for help. While at the platforms, two of the men see the Wildes and shoot at them. A bullet flies past Ring; no one is injured.

Ch. 35

-Raoni comes back to search for the three Wildes; he returns with 4 of his Kayapo friends. They find the men who were searching for them, tie them, bring them back to camp, and wait for help. The Kayapo are against killing, so the men are just badly bruised and winded.

Ch. 36

-Dave Lamella, the owner of the gold mine and leader of the captors, emerges from the river. He attempts to use Ring and Asia as hostages to get his men back, but Ring throws a heavy rock at him and knocks him out cold. He is bleeding from where the rock hit, but he’s alive. They tied him up and waited for help.

Ch. 39

-The family is reunited before separating for their work once more, and the kids decide to go with their father to Mexico while their mom finishes up her work. Asia writes a letter to her friend and crush, Caleb, inviting him to Mexico to help with their parents' work study. I’m assuming this is where the next book will pick up.