Grand Teton Stampede

The Campground Kids #1

by C.R. Fulton

“STAMPEDE!” Isaiah yells as the herd heads straight at his and Ethan’s tent… Twelve-year-old Isaiah Rawlings wished for only one thing this summer, a camping trip outside of Kentucky. I’m so tired of camping in my backyard, he groaned. Isaiah pleads with his parents to reconsider their usual summer trip to dusty old museums and big cities. When his dad unexpectedly announces a trip to Grand Teton National Park, Isaiah is ecstatic! On the second night of camping, He wakes to a thunderous noise that grows louder and louder. The ground begins to tremble. Earthquake?! Isaiah scrambles from his tent… When Isaiah, his cousin Ethan, and sister Sadie investigate the next morning, tracks lead them back to a broken fence. As they scan the surrounding area, something seems off…Why? More than one set of tracks lead into the park. Was this stampede accidental or is there more to the story? Join The Campground Kids as they work together to solve their first mystery in Grand Teton National Park.

Series
Isaiah, his sister Sadie, and their cousin Ethan, The Campground Kids, will take you on a journey of epic camping adventures. Join this squad as they begin exploring the most loved National Parks encountering mystery, challenge, survival, and more in this action packed book series.

Genres: Childrens, Mystery, Adventure, Middle Grade, Fiction, Audiobook, Chapter Books

172 pages, Paperback

Published March 20, 2022

About the author

Join best selling, award winning author, C.R. Fulton for exciting reads! For the past four years. C.R. Fulton has traveled the East Coast in an RV with her husband, two kids and three pups. It has been a wild ride and has provided loads of inspiration for books! She is the author of thirty-two novels and loves some serious bass in her earbuds while writing. She is an inspirational speaker to youth and adults alike. You can connect with her at www.crfultonbooks.com

Reviews

[Ruthe Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm always looking for a good series for kids who use our church library. Having just finished this book, I believe the book includes great family values to please the parents, as well as a good adventure to keep an elementary school child interested. Travel to the Grand Tetons with Isaiah Rawlings and his parents, little sister, and cousin. Camp out in tents, watch out for bears, take an unplanned plunge into the wild rapids of the river, what's that noise! A stampeded of WHAT? Those guys over there look like bad guys. Who left the gate open? WOW, that wolf is staring at me! There is enough great adventures, plus a mystery to be solved, to make up for the tiny bit of potty humor that wasn't necessary to the story.

[Lizzy (Elizabeth) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book with my youger sisters. And it was...ok. At parts it felt unrealistic.
The writing was also really confusing. Halfway through a paragraph the topic would change. And some sentences were hard to understand.
I was a nice story though. Maybe I didn't like it because it's a middle grade book. My youngest sister said she loved it.

[Arwyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get that this book is meant for kids. Although it was entertaining, it was not realistic in the slightest.

I grew up in and around Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. I do not feel like the author has a good grasp of park rules and reality. There is almost no way a family could take a spur of the moment trip and have a campsite in the park. These places take reservations that fill up way in advance. A park ranger is not going to go off-road in their suburban to avoid a bison jam. Kids aren’t going to be successful rescuing another kid from the river. Seeing any big animals beside elk, bison and moose would be incredibly rare.

I wanted to like this book, but I just don’t feel like the author did enough research to make it feel like it could really happen.

[Calene Bybee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story :) my kids really enjoyed it and kept asking for “one more chapter.” I don’t like that Isaiah doesn’t tell his parents he is being bullied at school. Even going out of the way to say he doesn’t want to tell them because they would worry. He lies to his family when they ask about starting school instead of telling them that he is scared to go back. The bully story line is fine because he gets brave and faces the bully at the end. He still could have found his power AND talked to his parents about what was happening. It seemed inconsistent with the Christian tone of the book that he wouldn’t just talk to his parents…

[Kimberly Van Sambeek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of accuracy with the Grand Teton National Park, including real places such as Jenny Lake, Moose, and Mormon Row. A good read for a child who has recently visited the park or will be visiting. It also has some correct scientific references such as explaining wolves and their ecological impact for the park.

However, it gets four stars because the parents annoyed me. I felt they were pretty reckless throughout the book. Who allows three children to go and “adventure” around a flooded river? Especially in a place they have never been to? If I was reading this to my students, there would be a lot more discussion about safety and being with an adult in these situations.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a multi part review, as both I and 3 of my children read the book.

First off, I will say the book was best enjoyed by my 2nd grade almost 8 year old boy. He just like the story and it was a quick read for him. We visited Tetons when he was about 4 so he might have some memories of hiking around Jenny Lake. He has also done Jr Ranger at a number of parks and enjoyed that mention in the book

My 10 year old boy enjoyed it well enough, not too much to comment on.

My 12 year old girl was not as impressed, and thought the fact the villain did it to try to impress a girl stupid. She also thought the pickle incident and the Sadie can't have sugar incident unnecessary.

I thought it was a short story for children, but had a few gaping flaws. First off, no map in the front of the book to give the reader an idea of where the story was taking place. Second, while the Jr Ranger mention was great, the fact that Isaiah cuts down part of a tree in the park goes directly against everything in the Jr Ranger booklet. Third, since the story seems to have a younger target audience, I would have preferred a different motivation for the bad guy than trying to impress the girl. The last thing that really bothered me about the book was that at no point does the author rationalize why the family never stopped in Yellowstone. Yellowstone and Grand Teton are very close together (less than an hour), and if I was coming from Kentucky, having never been out west before, there would have had to have been a giant reason for me to not spend at least a day in the trip to go see Old Faithful erupt. I can suspend belief that the family was able to just pack up and go to Grand Teton without any previous camping experience (on the grounds of it being a children's book, but still poorly done), but the not going to Yellowstone really grated in me.

I think that I also might have enjoyed the story more has I not read Aaron Johnson's National Park Mysteries series first. (The child that enjoyed this book the best was the one that hasn't read the other series yet).

So in summary, this book works best for a younger reader who won't realize all the National Parks Camping holes in the story.
We still are continuing to read the next book in the series.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun little book. If you have a kid between the ages of 6 and 10, give them this. It’s the National Parks version of the Magic Treehouse.

[Sarah Riessen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this on recommendation from a student. Somewhat amateur writing, but high interest for a middle level reader. I enjoyed the book overall and can see many students enjoying the face paced adventure/mystery style of these books.

[Pat Trattles · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first in a mystery series revolving around our National Parks, this is nice middle grade read. While some of the circumstances are not realistic – Ethan being swept into the current of a raging river and eventually rescued by his younger cousins, for example – it contains plenty of mystery, action, and adventure to keep the middle grade reader engaged. Readers will work alongside Isaiah, Sadie, and Ethan as they solve the mystery of who or what caused the stampede.

[Scrumhalf · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is terrible. The plot is completely far fetched, the chapters jump too far for kids to follow the story easily, and the actual writing vacillates between cliche and forced humor that I couldn’t decide what I disliked the most.

One positive… I loved seeing siblings that actually enjoyed and supported one another genuinely. The family unit was portrayed beautifully.

[Mrs. Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with my 9-year-old. She likes mystery and the outdoors, so it was a good fit.

[Michelle Huisingh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kids loved it. Great adventure with a mystery to be solved. Lots of action too!!

[Ellie Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
Really fun adventure but unrealistic and short

[Carrie Crozier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great middle grade adventure book. I’m sure the rest of the series is just as good.

[Amanda ☆ Nana's Books ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books for kids where you learn things along with enjoying a good storyline.
This one was great for learning about Grand Teton National Park along with some facts about wolves and how they impact the area.

[Jill Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Juvenile Adventure/Mystery Fiction. I looked forward to reading this first book in the Campground Kids series, as it took place in Grand Teton National Park, where I have visited/camped. I was disappointed. It’s not written very well. At times, it felt like it was jumping about. When the author allowed the Isiah, 12, to chop a portion of a tree for firewood in an established park campground, I shook my head. Parks don’t allow you to chop up trees in the park. Some of the action in the story is a bit far fetched. Some children may enjoy the mystery/adventure/action of the book.

[Kathryn Currier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a good story for kids just getting into longer chapter books.
I don't like the "dont give Sadie sugar" gag. It seams like normalizing an unhealthy relationship with sugar. It also seems like this is going to be a running gag the series.
There are a half dozen plot holes I only noticed because I grew up in the area. If you didn't know the area they wouldn't be a problem.
These parents are also terrible in that for the plot kind of way.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clean story my kids enjoyed.
Issues:
Mild boy/girl interest among an older set of characters. Isaiah deceived his parents regarding a bully issue at school rather than discussing it with them. Isaiah’s connection with the wolf felt bizarre. Overall the writing was very simplistic and the plot line wrapped up very quickly.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just the highlights:
Wholesome story, good messages, Christian undertone (that was a pleasant surprise!), outdoor adventure/mystery, and the kids have parents that are actually part of the story (another pleasant surprise!). Recommend for kids 8-12 years old.

[Joy Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one out loud to Andrew (8 years-old). He loved it. I thought it was just ok. I liked the setting and the mystery but some of the problems the kids found themselves in (ex: falling off a cliff into a raging river) seemed overly dangerous and rather implausible that they'd be able to rescue one another. I had to keep reminding Andrew that in reality, a kid would die if this ever happened. I was also annoyed that the mystery wrapped up with a boy sabotaging his crush's competition. That fell flat for an 8 year-old boy and was just lame for me. Even so, Andrew wants me to check out another book from this series. I'm willing to give it one more chance for the sake of reading with my kid. We'll see!

[Aurora Graywood · Rating 5 out of 5]

C.R. Fulton’s Grand Teton Stampede is an exciting and adventurous start to The Campground Kids series. Twelve-year-old Isaiah finally gets his wish for an epic camping trip, but his adventure takes a thrilling turn when a mysterious stampede disrupts their night. Alongside his cousin Ethan and sister Sadie, Isaiah embarks on a suspenseful journey to uncover whether the chaos was a mere accident or something more sinister.

Packed with mystery, teamwork, and the stunning backdrop of Grand Teton National Park, this book is perfect for young readers who love outdoor adventures and solving puzzles. A fun and engaging read that will leave kids eager for the next installment!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for a short story with a fast plot and lots of values, then this would be a good choice. The plot seems to have so much packed into it that there aren't a lot of details or character development, but it still moves along. I feel like for a first camping trip this poor family had to deal with a lot- a cow stampede, a kid falling into a raging river, a storm, and stolen horses. I liked that nature and animals in a national park were highlighted. No swears, mention of killing wolves in the past for animal violence. 2nd grade and up.

[Megan Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised by this series. My 10 yr old grabbed them from our local library to read on her own. We always have a read-aloud going in the evenings and she suggested some from this series bc she enjoyed them, and the whole family has now enjoyed them! Each book seems to have survival skills/outdoor tips, values family/sibling relationships, and themes of working together. There is adventure, mystery and humor all mixed in.

[Erin Parise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d give this 4.5 stars if that was an option! This story was very relatable and engaging. I enjoyed the audiobook reading of this title immensely, hoping to find a series my kids would enjoy. They have liked it so far!

It’s full of fast paced adventure mixed with just enough beautiful description of setting and emotion that you can easily see yourself camping in the Grand Tetons with Isaiah and his family!

[Brenda Klaassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This juvenile book was really good. The family decided to go camping in the Grand Tetons right at the end of summer and before the school started. The youth most of the time, kept their heads on straight. There was a wolf that kept making appearances throughout the story. I might give this author another chance at a later time.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a new series that I think your reader will enjoy. From my research (and the way this book is written), it appears this author is a believer. I did find this at my local library, which tells me the publishers may have an in with distributors. If your library doesn't have it, request it be added to the collection!

[Cat Denmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review written by 8yo son: This was the best audio book I’ve ever listened to. I like how the author tells us the feelings of the characters. I think boys and girls ages 8-12 will like it. It has a lot of adventure and interesting facts about survival, camping, and nature. I liked the puzzle of the mystery. Koda is my favorite character.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a bedtime book to my 2nd and 3rd grader and it held their attention really well. We talked about cliff hangers because they had a hard time waiting after the end of a chapter. I really enjoyed it and loved that it includes some of the landmarks of the park. Having been to the Grand Teton National Park helped it mean even more.

[Meredith]

I am not the target audience for this book and I think I would only give it two and a half stars for my own reading. It just didn't feel realistic for what I know from my visits to the Grand Tetons.
However I can definitely see the appeal for younger readers especially those who have never visited that area.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

We listened to this audiobook in the car together, my kids (9, 6, & 3) and me. My oldest really got into the storyline and is excited for the next one! We all liked coming up with answers to the mystery. Great idea for a series - mystery kid books set at national parks! So many interesting topics covered!