The River of No Return: The Jaguar Stones, Book 3

Gr 5–8—The latest installment (EdgmontUSA, 2012) in the Voelkels's series is an adventurous, but flawed, tale. After spending the previous two books evading the disgusting and power-hungry machinations of the Death Lords of the Mayan Underworld, Max and Lola are back together again, trying to stop the same bad guys from taking over the world yet again. The problem with this episode is that these kids don't seem to have learned from their previous close escapes. Max, especially, seems to be particularly oblivious to the fact that almost every situation he encounters is a trap, yet he still persists in waltzing into each one without a care in the world. Story threads are also dropped and picked up at random throughout the telling, leaving listeners frequently confused as to where the plot is going. Mike Chamberlain's narration works for Max, but feels out of place when voicing Lola, and there are some instances where the narration is more animated than the writing, causing the story to sound forced. Fans of Rick Riordan's popular myth-based "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series may be interested in this story, but shouldn't expect the same level of research or writing here.—Michaela Schied, Indian River Middle School, Philadelphia, NY