The Mystery of Meerkat Hill

Gr 2–5—Eight-year-old Precious Ramostswe lives in a village in Botswana and wants to be a detective when she grows up. There are two new students at her school, a brother and sister, Teb and Pontsho, who have a comical pet meerkat named Kosi. The three kids and Kosi quickly become friends as they begin an adventure to find Teb and Pontsho's family's missing cow. Precious is a caring soul who learns that her new friends are poor and that the missing cow has an extraordinary impact on a family that has very little. She then embarks on a journey to find the missing cow, learns a few lessons along the way, and helps her new friends. Listeners will enjoy collecting clues along the way to help Precious solve the mystery. In this tale (Anchor, 2013) rich with lessons about the culture and people of an African village, Smith weaves many lessons that can be taken from the audiobook and integrated into a classroom setting. Having the print version paired with the audio would be beneficial for some students as narrator Adjoa Andoh frequently rolls her r's, which could prove to be distracting for younger listeners as they attempt to understand and follow the storyline independently.—Jessica Gilcreast, Bedford, NH