The Orangutan Rescue Gang
The Orangutan Rescue Gang
Author: Joyce Major
Publisher: Allegro Publishing, (May 6, 2019)
The Orangutan Rescue Gang is a middle-grade chapter book that is fast-paced and keeps the reader riveted. Jaylynn, the main character, is the female lead of the story. Her peers in the story are all male and she is an avid soccer player, giving the book a broad appeal to both boys and girls.
There are many positives about this book. The author does an excellent job of writing from the main character’s point of view. She accurately captures the voice of an eleven-year-old protagonist. The basic storyline is realistic – dealing with parents separating, adjusting to life with one parent and moving to a new place – in this case, Sumatra, a new country and culture. There are environmental and scientific elements to the story as the plot revolves around the plight of orangutans and the rainforest in Sumatra. The book is a fun way to learn about other cultures, environmental issues, and what children can do to make a difference.
The author seamlessly weaves the cultural elements of Sumatra into the storyline. The reader learns of the food, customs, modes of transportation, climate, and language of Sumatra. The cultural aspects are emphasized in the book especially through food. Jaylynn finds the Sumatran food to be strange in tastes and textures and does not understand eating rice for breakfast. When Jaylynn shares her American food favorites – peanut butter and cereal – with her Sumatran friend Zaqi, he is equally puzzled. The author uses the very relatable cultural element food, to help middle-graders compare the two cultures.
Jaylynn’s character faces challenges in the book as her predictable life in Seattle is thrown into chaos. Her parents are taking a break from their marriage by geographically separating. Her mother is pursuing a career-changing opportunity in Washington, DC. And Jaylynn must accompany her father to Sumatra as he takes advantage of a career opportunity. Leaving her friends, her home and her mother predictably causes Jaylynn to be confused, scared, uncertain and unhappy. Their new housekeeper Gita seems kind and thoughtful, but she is not Jaylynn’s mom. The food is unfamiliar and does not suit Jaylynn’s tastes, and she does not understand the language. She is feeling alone and abandoned.
However, a chance meeting with a chained-up baby orangutan in the marketplace being sold as a pet distracts Jaylynn from the challenges of her new life. The baby orangutan, who Jaylynn names Little O, is clearly being mistreated and is scared and lonely without a mother, like Jaylynn herself. Jaylynn’s empathy for the animal runs deep and she seems to feel the emotions that the baby is experiencing. The emotions of the Little Orangutan come to Jaylynn as colors and it takes Jaylynn a while to decode what the colors mean. As she does, her connection with the baby strengthens.
Jaylynn feels it is her duty to save the orangutan from this horrible fate and get it back to its home in the rain forest. Jaylynn enlists the help of her first friend in Sumatra, the housekeeper’s son Zaqi, and his cousin, Bima, to help her with the rescue plan. The rescue gang discovers that it is most likely that the baby’s mother is dead. They devise a plan to collect the money to buy Little O and take it to a preserve for baby orangutans. There, Little O will learn how to survive in the rainforest and can be reintroduced to its natural habitat.
On the journey to save Little O, Jaylynn not only learns a lot about the culture in Sumatra, she also becomes aware of the plight of the orangutans and the rainforest. The killing of adult orangutans and stealing and selling their babies to sell as pets are becoming widespread practices. The rain forest land is then usurped to farm palm oil, a lucrative crop used in many foods. The orangutan population is being decimated, the babies are being mistreated and the rainforest is being destroyed.
The question arises about the ill-effects on our environment because of human destruction of the rainforest. This not only affects humans but the animals that inhabit the rainforest. The author is passionate about the plight of the orangutans and offers in-depth notes and resources at the end of her book. She also talks about the increased cultivation of palm oil on rain forest land and the common use of palm oil as a cheap ingredient in foods. She not only gives information and resources on both these topics; she offers specific actions that children can take to prevent the continuance of these disastrous practices. This could lead to discussions of other ways children can empower themselves.
Although the author did a good job of seeing the story through 11-year-old eyes, there were a few elements of the book that bothered me. The book tended to get a bit repetitive as Jaylynn obsesses over and over again about the immediate need to rescue Little O. Also, the descriptions of how Jaylynn felt were sometimes overplayed. Some examples include: “The red-hot sun broiled my brains like bacon…”; “My head sank into the quicksand of helplessness.”; “My inner teapot steamed, pressure building, ready to pop’’; and “I took such a deep breath that if you jumped into it, you would never get out…” In addition, Jaylynn did some very dangerous and inappropriate things: holding a strange baby orangutan, even after her father told her not to; going out at night alone in a country where she doesn’t even speak the language; lying to her father and stealing money out of father’s wallet. Jaylynn justifies these actions as a means to an end, but a conversation should be had with young readers about the dangers and unacceptability of some of the things Jaylynn did.
Despite these few concerns, I believe that this chapter book would make an excellent read-aloud giving the opportunity to discuss the issues and behaviors that are raised by the book. The plot moves at a good pace, keeping interest alive. There are close calls, setbacks, and acts of bravery from every member of the rescue gang keeping the reader in suspense. The book launches discussions on so many relevant topics – diverse cultures, our environment, and ethical issues. With the links to lesson plans, I would definitely recommend this book, especially as a read-aloud for teachers of middle-grade students.
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