The Golden Swift (The Silver Arrow)

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Still. It was much heavier than "The Silver Arrow," and I ended the book feeling more sad than hopeful. I'm hoping for a third installment with a little more magic. I liked that the author includes a lot of information about little-known animals in the world and often explains unique features about them as well as where they live in the world. In that respect, the book would offer a wonderful supplement to geography or zoological studies. Where I found the book less enjoyable was the conclusions drawn about climate change and the blame assigned to humans for what is assumed to be the catastrophic state of the world. I think climate and endangered species topics can be brought up without being so preachy and off-putting. And the preaching was not just from the characters but from anthropomorphized animals as well (as if they possessed higher intelligence than mere humans). Or not literally. She could actually have been a little bit happier. Kate wasn’t complaining—it had been drummed into her in Social and Emotional Learning class that complaining was not a productive way to deal with personal challenges, and she figured her Social and Emotional Learning teacher had probably had her share of personal challenges since her name was Ms. Tinkler.

Like with the first book, I also listened to this one mostly via audiobook and enjoyed the narration. I would recommend having the physical or e-copy on hand as there are illustrations, though.

The sequel to The Silver Arrow. Readers see the continued adventures of Kate and Tom as they continue their work to save endangered animals. Unfortunately, Uncle Herbert has gone missing so Kate decides to go rogue and take the Silver Arrow out to look for him. With help from the cassowary who runs the rail yard and a grouchy wolverine, Tom and Kate set out to follow some vague clues and locate Herbert. Along the way, they meet two other conductors their ages. Kate already knows Jag from school; Wren is a new friend that Tom connects with. Together, they set out to protect endangered species and reestablish animals in their former habitats. As readers would expect, some relocations are successful and some are not. The four are confronted with different animals who want to rid the world of humans and stop the work of the Great Secret Intercontinental Railway. Even the Board of Directors of the GSIR becomes involved. Four stars. This would be an excellent choice for public or school library acquisition, bedtime reading, or even buddy read. So this year when she saw the poster announcing auditions for Anything Goes, Kate signed up immediately. It wasn’t even a decision. She knew exactly which part she wanted, namely Hope Harcourt, beguiling young heiress.

A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.I like that you get to see more of Kate's day-to-day life in between trips on the trains and that you see Kate and Tom interacting with other children. Kate is entering middle school, and I think her feelings about school and fitting in accurately reflect what many children feel at that age. Goldman's premise is an interesting one with excitement and creative problem solving and definite maturing of the characters. I just wish readers were not also fed a particular notion of science and politics at the same time.