Self-described explorer, adventurer, librarian and author C. Alexander London‘s An Accidental Adventure: We Are Not Eaten By Yaks has everything lovers of
the Lemony Snicket adventures want in a book: slightly strange, bored, disinterested tween protagonists; dead or missing parents; outlandish villains; impossible-to-survive adventures and impending doom at every turn; a sinister plot by a secret organization; and a slightly off-key narrator who will faithfully record the unlikely heroes’ adventures for any reader brave enough to turn the pages.
Eleven year old twins Celia and Oliver Navel would prefer to watch television 24 hours a day. Their list of favorite programs and actors is long, but with the exception of travel shows, there’s nothing they won’t watch. Unfortunately for them, their parents are the famous daredevil “Explorers in Residence” at the world’s oldest, most secret Explorer’s Club. And there’s nothing that Oliver and Celia loath more than exploring and adventuring. But this summer they won’t get to watch TV all day long; instead, they quickly find themselves caught up in a bet between their thrill-seeking father and a dubious member of the club whose intentions are most certainly more sinister than they seem.
Soon Oliver and Celia are deep in the mountains and gorges of Tibet, searching for the lost city of Shangri-La, the long-lost tablets of the Ancient Library of Alexandria, their presumed-dead mother, a way to save their father from the soul-stealing spell of Poison Witches, all the while trying to outwit an assortment of kooky villains, people who aren’t who they say they are, and of course, ferocious abominable snowmen.
London packs a lot of action and plot twists into what is surely the first book in an intended series. Oliver and Celia are likeable kids who will certainly be well received by tween readers looking for proof that most adults are clueless goofballs or untrustworthy adversaries and that they’re the only ones able to save the day, even though they’d really rather do just about anything else. Little bits of Buddhist philosophy sprinkled throughout, along with the deftly incorporated lessons about the importance of working together and doing the right thing, add a measure of good will to this crazy thrill ride.
- Posted by Cori