THE JAGUAR STONES: Book One: Middle World by J & P Voelkel

I enjoyed Book One, Middle World, of the Jaguar Stones Series by Jon and Pamela Voelkel.

Max Murphy is a spoiled kid who searches for his archaeologist parents in the clutches of evil Lord Tzelek in the Amazon jungle with the aid of a Mayan girl named Lola and the spirit of Mayan Ruler, Lord Six-Rabbit and his mother, who have taken over the bodies of two baboons.

The book is fast paced with a forward moving plot. Its also got plenty of humor and the characters are interesting and dynamic.

As a life long Indiana Jones fan, I was delighted at the element of adventure in this book, with the main protagonist experiencing much hair-raising action. As a student of comparative mythology, I also loved how the Maya culture and mythology was featured strongly in the story. In the way Percy Jackson features Greek Mythology, Sarwat Chada's Ash Mysteries feature Hindu Mythology and Rick Riordan's new Red Pyramid series features Egyptian Mythology, the Jaguar Stones wil lintroduce children to yet another real world mythology, though I would encourage all readers to seek out sources of more factual material if they are interested in learning about the Mayans.

Having said that, and this may be minor to some people, but I felt it was a big miss how the authors included the acquisition of the concept of zero, which can only result from the processes of higher order thinking, within the context of things created from lower order thinking, such as rubber balls, hot chocolate and chewing gum. To do that is to not fully understand and appreciate the concept of zero which was used as well as the mathematical term, pi (3.14) in building many Mayan temples and monuments.

In fact, it is plausible that the Mayans were correct in stating via their mythology that they inherited all of their mathematic, scientific data and calculations from the Star Beings who visited them many millennia ago, hence they know they are both "of the Earth and of the stars" (read Graham Hancock's book, Fingerprint of the Gods.) I know the authors state their book is fiction, but I just don't they should have mentioned the concept of zero in such a common context.

I admire how much the authors risked making their lead character, Max, very unlikable at the beginning. He comes across as so spoiled and immature at the beginning, several times I almost put the book down because of it. That's how put off I was by Max's rudeness and selfishness. Eventually, Max grows and learns more about himself and those around him. The fact that he had a pretty wide character arc as far as emotional progression was very effective and actually helped me to like him more, though I was initially turned off to him. Erica S. Pearl does this with her main character in Vintage Veronica, pushing the envelope of unlikability to the point of alienating me, the reader. Ballsy writing that pays off.

I am also going to express a particular frustration concerning kid's books; not one protagonist, including Max Murhpy in this book, likes or eats anything remotely healthy. But then why do practically all children's book authors, from middle grade to YA, seem to champion kids eating junk food and garbage? Is it some rule that protagonists must think all healthy food is disgusting as, well, rabbit food?

In the Harry Potter series, Harry and his friends relished devouring meals consisting of practically nothing but cakes, cookies and also, curiously, lots of meat; apparently there are no vegetarians in children's literature. Even in this book, there was a paragraph after the climax that made me cringe: "... Raul appeared with a huge serving dish of crispy bacon and juicy sausages and a platter piled high with barbecued ribs and steaks. He went away and soon returned with scrambled eggs, fried eggs, fluffy hash browns, racks of thickly sliced buttered toast, baskets of banana bread, bagels, doughnuts and pastries, and a massive bowl of fruit salad."

Something tells me the adding of the "massive bowl of fruit salad" may have been a guilty after-thought. I could almost feel a heart attack coming on when I first read this. Seriously, what is the deal with all that animal meat? How can adults expect kids to eat healthy if eating junk food or a strictly carnivorous diet is reinforced in popular culture, i.e., books?

At one point should an adult, and even more importantly, an adult who writes children's books, stop saying they are merely reflecting society ("Kids hate healthy food!) and start taking social responsibility through their art to help change children's perceptions about healthy food?