Book Review: Rider & the Hummingbird – Zena Shapter

Rider & the Hummingbird is written by Zena Shapter and co-authored with the Northern Beaches Writers Group (ISBN: 9780994487315), published in Australia. The setting of this book takes place in Australia, with the main character Lan, short for Lancelot and his pal Bit, a ferret who goes everywhere with him.

Lan is a fourteen year old boy who is on a mission to stop one of the biggest Eco-terrorist attacks to ever threaten Australia (Shapter, 2016, p 28). Being a very tech-savvy teenage boy, who is a computer genius when it comes to hacking finds himself in trouble and ends up in the High Country Youth Correctional Facility – before known as “the hacker and now the governments number one enemy” (Shapter, 2016, p. 66).

Lan unlike the others, was innocent. His genius hacking skills and reading things he should not have been reading about the department of Defense and downloading specs for their new weaponized drone is what led him to his new life in the correctional facility. But that did not stop him from anything. The inmates are given the opportunity for daily scriptures, or whatever other spiritual guidance the inmates needed and Lan chose Buddhism with each session led by “Monk”. Due to the trouble Lan has gotten himself into, he did not trust anyone anymore until he met Monk who he eventually builds a relationship with.

One day, Monk gave Lan a new copy of the CNET magazine; Lan’s only way to find out information from the outside world. Which an article about “Drone Hack Mystery Solved” was published. This was it, Lan knew he could prove he was innocent, he knew more about the steps to prove how he was not at fault.

This is where the story takes a turn, through Monk, he finds out there has been a report of a stolen drone. It could not have been Lan, he’s in juvie. He then has an idea of who it could have been, Hummingbird. A hacker Lan had connections with, who had given him clues about what he would do next.  Hummingbird wanted to blow up the Jindabyne Dam, which is near Lans hometown, Tumut. This is when Lan decides, he has got to get out of here. With the help of Monk, Lan escapes the High Country Youth Correctional Facility.

A new journey begins for Lan and Bit, he escapes. On bike, Lan escapes through the forest and heads towards town. While trying to stay hidden and not get caught, Lan has to find a place with WiFi connection, so he can hack into the systems and find Hummingbirds location. So his struggles begin..

After finding the location of Hummingbird, he arrives banging on the door. She answers, it was a girl. Lan questions her, but she denies everything. Bit escapes into her house, where Lan finds evidence of her computer monitors. Through the struggles of escaping and  getting to where is he now, eventually Lan is able to hack into the systems stop the drone attack. Once it is time for Lan is escape and run away from what has happened, he gets caught by the police. Lan immediately knows he’s in so much trouble, but at least he was able to save the hundreds of people who could have died from this attack. Suddenly came a sigh of relief, they had been looking for him. His original hacking case had been under review, and they knew he had been the one who saved all of those people.

This is a well written story, where children can imagine themselves on this journey with Lan. The novel goes into greater details about all of the struggles Lan faces, using appropriate language for children. The structure of this story begins with rising details that lead to the climax of the story where the plot takes a suspenseful turn, and falling actions take place that soon leads to a resolution.

Through this action and adventurous novel, this chapter book is appropriate for children ranging from ages 8 to 14 years old. This book features a few simply detailed pictures throughout the book. Lan faces many challenges through this plot twist of a novel. This book would be appealing for children who like stories that are suspenseful. Through Lan’s journey, he learns how to overcome his challenges and troubles on his own. This can be a learning experience for young children, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Although you might feel defeated, there is a reward waiting to happen. Just like Lan, in the beginning he was known as the governments biggest enemy, then tables turn, he becomes the hero of the story in the end.

Works Cited:

Shapter, Zena, et al. Rider & the Hummingbird. Northern Beaches Writers Group, 2016.