March 10, 2026 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
In 2007, Nico Paz-Murcio and his younger sister Tess are excited that their cousins are coming from the US to spend ten days with them in Sacred Valley, near Copan, Honduras. Their mother works at the archaeological park, and the family is working to rescue macaws. They have a refuge with a number of them. The visit takes their mind of the fact that there father is living in the city while their parents are separated. Emilio is NOT excited to travel, and would rather read in peace than share a bedroom with three other people. Jackie has a bit of anxiety, and isn't all that excited either. Reintroducing macaws to the wild is a lengthy process, but so far things have been going well, and there's a lot of excitement as the mother works with a US museum for a tour of artifacts. Nico, who has a love/hate with the birds, is worried that his mother has a boyfriend. Tessa has a plan to teach the birds to talk, and is taping everything she does on a vintage tape recorder. When the macaws all go missing, the children band together to investigate. This involves interviewing their line up of suspects, hacking into computers, getting tips from Guatemala, and ultimately finding a culprit close to home.
Strengths: I'm a big fan of books where children travel to different places to visit relatives, because it not only gives us a great up close view of the place, but reinforces the importance of family. Even though my grandmother only lived a half hour away, I desperately wanted to be asked to spend the summer working on her dairy farm with some of my 38 cousins! This story is told in alternating chapters from the points of view of each cousin, and the challenges of the cousins are all realistic. The fact that the parents were separated was well portrayed. This had some good twists and turns, and the end of the book is upbeat.
Weaknesses: At one point, the children investigate with some rather intrusive technology ways which made me uncomfortable. It was for a good cause, but hacking into a computer and planting a tape recorder also seemed less likely to actually happen. Young readers won't mind this at all.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed mysteries in specific locations, like Smith's The Wildes series, Cerantes' Frida Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring, Perkins' The Golden Necklace: A Darjeeling Tea Mystery or Beil's The Wreck at Ada's Reef.
Weaknesses: At one point, the children investigate with some rather intrusive technology ways which made me uncomfortable. It was for a good cause, but hacking into a computer and planting a tape recorder also seemed less likely to actually happen. Young readers won't mind this at all.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed mysteries in specific locations, like Smith's The Wildes series, Cerantes' Frida Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring, Perkins' The Golden Necklace: A Darjeeling Tea Mystery or Beil's The Wreck at Ada's Reef.
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