Survive This Safari by Natalie D. Richards
on April 8, 2025
ISBN: 0593644166
Genres: Animals, Mystery, Realistic Fiction
Format: Middle Grade Fiction
Goodreads

Lucy is struggling mightily with anxiety over her panic attacks and is reluctant to enter the zoo contest even though her older sister will be by her side as a zoo employee. She and her team have been asked to test a new escape room/puzzle challenge for zoo visitors and one member of her team will be asked to join their ambassador program. When Lucy’s sister is stranded behind a locked gate and the gates and walkie-talkies malfunction, Lucy and her team soon realize there is more going on than solving puzzles. Written for upper elementary/middle grade readers, the depiction of anxiety and panic attacks is realistic. While things are tied up perhaps a little too neatly at the end – the tension between Lucy and her rival is resolved a little too easily – readers will enjoy the mystery element and learning animal facts through the humorous footnotes.

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham