What the Orangutan Told Alice - Softcover

Writer/photographer Dale Smith is the author of "What the Parrot Told Alice", the highly acclaimed the first book in this environmental fiction series.

Grade 7-10-Smith's desire to prevent orangutan extinction overwhelms his ability to construct an engaging novel. This didactic ecological fantasy is set in Borneo, where 14-year-old Alice's father is doing research for a book about the apes. After she helps a gibbon, the animal leads her into the rain forest. There she meets Shane, a disillusioned exchange student from California, who has rescued the gibbon's mate. Not only is time suspended in the forest, but the humans and animals also speak the same language. Unfortunately, that language often sounds as though it comes straight from textbooks. Poaching and habitat destruction have decimated the orangutan population, as readers learn again and again. Whenever the narrative gains a little momentum, Smith inserts a factual chapter such as the background of scientists or the work of the Wanariset Orangutan Reintroduction Center. Small black-and-white photos don't do justice to the lush beauty of the setting. Pages of definitions follow. Most readers will have difficulty reaching the end of this book, in which every literary consideration is subordinate to the message.
Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
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