Thunder Cave (Thunder Cave, 1)

Thunder Cave is by Roland Smith. Roland, like fellow authors Ben Mickelsen and Will Hobbs, started writing with the idea of getting middle school boys to read and to like it. His books take boys on various adventures. This one takes Jake to Kenya.Jake’s father was a field biologist who was in Kenya to study elephants. His Mother and step-father were anthropologists and taught at the university in New York. Although his Father was gone most of the time now, he made a point of writing to Jake and calling when he could. Jake followed his father’s path through Kenya by marking where he was on a calendar in his room. He had loved learning from his father when he was at the zoo in New York City.Then, the unthinkable happened. His Mother was killed when a car hit her while she was jogging. Jake got to the hospital in time to see her before she died. Now, he was left in New York with his step-father. His Father wasn’t even able to get back for her funeral. Jake was devastated and suffered even more when his step-father told him that he would be going to Wisconsin to live with his aunt and uncle. The apartment would be closed and he would be going on a dig in Venezuela. Jake didn’t like the idea so he decided to go to Kenya to find his Father in spite of the unrest in Kenya. He didn’t have much money after buying the airplane ticket, so he decided to take his bicycle and bike across Kenya.What adventures will he have crossing Africa? Will he find his Dad?

Jacob's parents are divorced and he hasn't seen his dad for a couple of years, since his mom remarried. His dad writes often, though, from his research camp in Kenya where he studies elephant behavior. Jacob's life was pretty predictable until the day his mom was hit by a car. She died that night. Jacob's stepdad was offered a job in Honduras, and he doesn't want to be responsible for Jacob, so he plans to send him away -- not to his dad, but to relatives Jacob barely knows.Jacob's opportunity to change his living arrangements comes the next day when his stepdad leaves for a business meeting out of town. Jacob already has a passport. He withdraws all his money from his bank (will a bank allow a kid to withdraw hundreds of dollars?) and pawns his mother's diamond rings. (Will a pawnshop transact business with a minor?) With the money, he buys a plane ticket to Nairobi that leaves in two days. (Will a travel agent sell a ticket to a third world country to an unaccompanied minor?) Then Jacob goes to the Kenyan Embassy and convinces them to give him a visa immediately. (Hmmm. This one is the hardest to believe. Visas take time and political pull. No one can walk in to the embassy and walk out with a visa. You have to apply, and then wait, sometimes as much as 6 months.) Since he will be biking across Kenya, Jacob packs his camping gear, and has the airline load his bike with the luggage.Jacob was in Nairobi less than a day when his bike was stolen and he was beaten up. From this point on, the story is an exciting "My Side of the Mountain" adventure, with interesting face-to-face meetings with wild animals and even ivory poachers. There is drought and danger at every turn as Jacob pushes into the wild, parched country to find his father.I understand that the author had to figure out a way to get the boy into Africa unaccompanied, but it was difficult for me to believe that it could have happened this way. On the other hand, children are less informed about the ins and outs of international travel, and will probably go right along with the possibilities here.Boys in 4th to 8th grade who like danger and adventure will love this book.

It’s a book with words and you can read it. Does exactly what a book should do!!

High interest adventure suitable for both boys and girls from 10 to 13 years of age.

great!

Having taught middle school for 16 years, I feel that ThunderCave is a great story of adventure to all students. It fits into the study of Africa in the classroom quite smoothly. It has a great collection of themes throughout the story: Death, endangerment, trust, survival, and adventure. There is such great lead into the adventure that Jacob takes, that you can get lost in the story with the follow of his adventure.

The book that hooked me into Roland Smith.

I read this first when it was first published. I enjoyed this book which was my first Rolland Smith book!