Mystery Of The Island Jungle

Was there really a phantom? Or was it fear of the unknown that made people think there was? Who was the old Oriental who’d disappeared into the lava tube? Did Hotdog find the wrecked plane? Was he going to beat Josh in getting footage to the news services and ruin his plans? Could Josh could back with another camera and solve the mystery of the blue lagoon before it was too late?

A bunch of little fears began nibbling at the edge of Josh’s mind, and more were to come.

Book: Mystery of the Island Jungle (The Ladd Family Adventure Series #3) by Lee Roddy, Focus On The Family Publishing, 1989

Genre: Adventure

Target Audience: Boys 11-15

Subjects: Fear, Phantoms, Family, Bullying

Summary: A phantom in the jungle! What Josh saw fits right in with the legends, but he and his parents aren’t so sure it isn’t something a bit more real than a phantom. Josh

recalls stories of his grandfather’s days in World War II and a kamikaze Japanese pilot he encountered. The uniform of the phantom is the same as his grandfather’s descriptions. Josh and his parents start to wonder if this is a crashed plane, the pilot lost in the jungle for decades. It would be a great story for the news services either way, and make enough money to bring Josh’s grandma over from the mainland to live with them. Josh isn’t the only one interested in the story though. A local reporter is determined to beat Josh to it. Only if Josh can find the phantom first, record footage of him and the fallen plane, and make it back out of the jungle safely, with his equipment, before Hotdog does, will he be able to make the money needed to take care of his grandma.

Notes: Mystery Of The Island Jungle is third in the Ladd Family Adventures, a series focused on a twelve year old boy living in Hawaii and the adventures he has with two of his friends, usually adventures that somehow relate to surviving the elements of nature. In Mystery Of The Island Jungle, Josh and his friends are exploring a remote part of the jungle when they encounter a man who chases them back to their helicopter. Legend says the man is a phantom who sometimes appears to explorers in the area. When Josh and his friends and family decide it’s actually a crashed Japanese pilot from World War II, Josh decides it would make a good story and a way to earn money. As he pursues his adventure he has to deal with the truth – is there really such a thing as a phantom, the local bully who works for the reporter trying to steal Josh’s story, his fear of all that could go wrong, and the possibility that it may be too dangerous and his parents won’t let him go back. As for spiritual issues, Josh recognizes where to turn when he is in danger and prays for help, then later thanks God when the danger is past. When Josh needs wisdom he also prays. He and his parents discuss whether or not lying – the only solution they could think of at the moment to stop the reporter, was acceptable since God says lying is wrong. There is a recognition that another family does not believe the same as them.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 3/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Psalm 91:2 – I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."