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Mysteries in Our National Parks #11
Running Scared
An invitation to study the declining bat population takes the Landons to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. With them is Sam, a young foster child. As Jack, Ashley, and Sam tour the underground wonders, a park worker suffers a seizure. The kids try to stay calm, but they know it will be a matter of only minutes before the candle burns down, leaving them in total darkness. It is definitely time to panic!
160 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2002
9 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Gloria Skurzynski
90 books30 followers"May you live in interesting times."
That ambiguous wish was not meant to be kind, because interesting times can be difficult. You and I certainly live in interesting times - dangerous, challenging, and fascinating.
My parents were born just before the start of the twentieth century; my youngest grandchild arrived in this century's final decade. The years in between have been the most dynamic in the history of the human race. Technical knowledge has exploded; so has the Earth's human population. We can create almost anything, yet each day we lose parts of our planet that can never be replaced.
I'm greedy: I want to write about all of it - the history, the grief, joy, and excitement of being human in times past; the cutting-edge inventions of times almost here.
--from the author's website
Gloria Skurzynski has also co-written books with her daughter Alane Ferguson.
That ambiguous wish was not meant to be kind, because interesting times can be difficult. You and I certainly live in interesting times - dangerous, challenging, and fascinating.
My parents were born just before the start of the twentieth century; my youngest grandchild arrived in this century's final decade. The years in between have been the most dynamic in the history of the human race. Technical knowledge has exploded; so has the Earth's human population. We can create almost anything, yet each day we lose parts of our planet that can never be replaced.
I'm greedy: I want to write about all of it - the history, the grief, joy, and excitement of being human in times past; the cutting-edge inventions of times almost here.
--from the author's website
Gloria Skurzynski has also co-written books with her daughter Alane Ferguson.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 2, 2011
So, I'm really enjoying this little National Park mysteries and I especially enjoyed this one about Carlsbad Caverns because I happen to be an NPS ranger at Timpanogos Cave, HOWEVER...I do not understand why the authors let a kid pee in the cave! In the story there are three children. They are lost in the cave. Only one of them has to go to the bathroom while being lost for several hours and the older boy helps him find a place to go away from the girl. WHY??? I thought for SURE, the authors were going to use this as a teaching moment about how to handle restroom situations in a cave, but nope--they didn't. These authors are really spot on about their research and their accuracy and all that. I just couldn't believe they had a kid pee in a cave in their story. It wasn't even integral to the story or anything.
Good cavers protect caves. There is a whole concept out there called "Leave No Trace." This applies to caving as well. There are these bags called "Reststops." They have a chemical in them that helps to solidfy body waste. You go, you zip it up like a baggie, and you carry it outside to the trash. There's something else called a "burrito bag." Good cavers, if they have to eat in a cave, hold their food over a bag to catch any crumbs. You just don't go peeing in a cave. Got that? Thanks. :)
Good cavers protect caves. There is a whole concept out there called "Leave No Trace." This applies to caving as well. There are these bags called "Reststops." They have a chemical in them that helps to solidfy body waste. You go, you zip it up like a baggie, and you carry it outside to the trash. There's something else called a "burrito bag." Good cavers, if they have to eat in a cave, hold their food over a bag to catch any crumbs. You just don't go peeing in a cave. Got that? Thanks. :)
November 4, 2009
It is very good,because it has a great beginning,action,it just like mystery novel.
April 1, 2025
This is a kids mystery that they sold in the NP book store. I'm not sure how well a kid would really like it. I found the kids in it really quite annoying, particularly the foster kid who kept running off and getting lost deep in the lightless recesses of the cave system. Toss in a couple of bad guys and an incompetent tour guide or two, and you kind of, but not really, have a mystery.
June 6, 2017
A bit predictable for me, but enjoyable overall. I'm not the target audience though, and I really think this would be a good book for upper elementary grades. My 10-year-old sister loved it! I plan on buying more of these books for my fourth-grade classroom.
July 18, 2023
Very cute story of a brother and sister with the added depth of a sibling foster child who go on an adventure through the Carlsbad Caverns. Educational and intriguing for young readers, in my 20s and I loved it myself enough to get the next book in the National Park series!
April 25, 2021
Sam was one of my favorite characters that has come to live with the Landon’s. Love this one.
April 7, 2014
The two Landon children and their current foster sibling Sam get lost in the caves of Left-hand Tunnel at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The main conflict concerned the children trying to find their way out of the cave and some of the perils they faced on the way. The "bad guys" of this book weren't the focus of the story except they did serve as a link to the resolutions to the main plot and the subplot, Dr.Landon is in Carlsbad to study the decrease in the Mexican free-tailed bat population. The idea of being stuck in a cave for several hours off of the main trail with no idea how or when you will find a way out is scary to me even reading through the main character Jack's perspective. I like how the A and B plots connected and it served as a reasonable explanation for how they got out of the cave and rounded out the character of one of the bad guys. The back story of the character Sam was heartbreaking, but I liked how he was able to start overcoming his fears by the end. If I continued reading more of this series I think I would find many of the Landon families' foster children's back stories to be sad. For the mystery being "We need to get out of this cave!" aka not really a mystery, I liked it more than the "Omg, we are being attacked by a bear!" plot in The Hunted (It was pretty crazy though I can't believe they didn't get in trouble for all of that).
This is also a National Park I been to before although my memory is a little fuzzy since I was six when I went. All I remember is the amphitheater outside, the stairway in the natural entrance, some of the cave, and a little of the gift shop. I want to go back now.
This is also a National Park I been to before although my memory is a little fuzzy since I was six when I went. All I remember is the amphitheater outside, the stairway in the natural entrance, some of the cave, and a little of the gift shop. I want to go back now.
March 27, 2009
another National Park!
April 11, 2009
I like this book a lot because I was in Carlsbad Caverns NP. Both book and National Park were great.
March 12, 2012
Another good book in this series. I liked the way this one flowed. Once the main part started, it went right on through the end - no boring or slow parts.
January 26, 2014
This book was very good. The book is a mystery book. It is by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson. It is mostly about 3 kids that get lost in some caverns. This book was good.
March 30, 2014
I can't get my kiddos interested in this series. I don't know why.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews