North Woods Poachers

C.J. and Andy are destined to spend another boring vacation fishing with their families. At least that's what they thought. While playing at the old fire tower, they discover some suspicious people and activity at the lodge. Mysterious black planes are landing and taking off on the lake. C.J. and Andy will try to learn what is happening. Danger and mystery surround the happenings that are transpiring. C.J.'s computer "know-how", and Andy's keen sense of direction will be necessary to solve this mystery. Max Elliot Anderson wrote a book to set kids, especially boys, on the edge of their seats. Dreams of adventure will whirl through the minds of reluctant readers as they turn the pages.

Max Eliot Anderson says his goal is to write books for reluctant reader boys to give them books which they will want to read and will enjoy reading. He wants boys to love reading. Also he wants good books which are age appropriate. He has written a number of books that are especially of interest to boys, they are mysteries. Each book has a different set of characters. "North Woods Poachers" is about two families, two brothers and their wives and children. The two main characters are two boy cousins. Two girl cousins are in the book as well. The two families are taking their annual vacation trip to a lake in the Canadian wilderness. The boys are sick of going fishing every year and wished their vacation was more exciting. One of the boys is into computers and electronics and has brought along all kinds of new technology to play around with, as his father gets new products to test out as part of his job. The book therefore has an interesting blend of wilderness and nature with the most modern technology. Boy readers who like computers and technology and the idea of spying and spy gadgets will like that aspect of the book. The mystery unfolds and as you can imagine the kids are working to solve it. Each chapter ends with a bit of a cliff hanger leaving the reader to want to go on to read the next chapter. The excitement builds as the story moves forward and the reader is held in suspense and is anxious to find out how the story resolves. The book has a few Christian references in it. These are light, such as a boy talking about the word prey and pray and mentions his family prays before dinner. Yet when they eat dinner as a family it is not mentioned that they prayed (so the religious content is not heavy). As with all children-solving-mystery books, the kids break some rules and are put in danger. Later instead of just letting that go the father addressed with the kids what they did wrong and how they were put in danger with what they did and how it might not have been the best thing to do. Those are examples of the very light, in my opinion, Christian content. The book is not preachy. Also although the two families are Christian the kids are not sickening sweet. The boys have a fair amount of sarcasm and complaining "this vacation is boring" and so on, in a way that is pretty true to life for many boys of that age. Note I asked my son if this was a religious book with Christian references and he said "no", so he didn't even pick up on it. When my 10.5 year old son read this book he was riveted. He read it over three days including staying up late into the night reading the last third of the book as he just had to find out what happened. I also was anxious to know what happened and read the book in one day. As an adult I will say that the book seems to be action and suspense driven. There is a good amount of dialogue. I felt the characters were not deeply developed, unlike other books where we come to love the characters and care what happens

I enjoyed this book very much. The kids in the story acted like detectives and solved the poaching mystery. It's a good book for boys and parents will be glad that the book also teaches about the importance of respecting the law. .........Jacob

Reviewed by Kelli Glesige for Reader Views I found "North Woods Poachers" to be a thoroughly enjoyable and well written story with a wholesome message meant to be enjoyed primarily by young teens, particularly boys, in the 11-12 year age range, but I truly think anyone will enjoy it. Max Elliot Anderson shares a good message on the importance of having and establishing family traditions while keeping a reluctant reader with a short attention span enthralled with the question, "What will happen next?" This story is about the two Washburn families going on their annual camping vacation in Canada, far from civilization, near the lovely Dore Lake. Andy and Jessica are cousins to C.J. and Jessica. Both the boys are age 12 and the girls are both age 9, and they are all good friends and get along well. As what typically happens when kids get older, Andy, the athlete of the bunch, no longer feels he wants to go on the trip, dreading a few weeks of doing nothing but being bored with fishing. C.J. is a computer and electronics whiz, with a father that owns a computer solutions company and brings along all kinds of new and fun things for the guys to try out. Of course, Andy soon forgets that he didn't want to make the trip when he and C.J. have a great time with all the new gadgets. As the families are crossing the Canadian border in their vehicles, guards are stopping all the trucks and are inspecting the contents and the people inside. The families learn that the guards are checking for poachers involved in organized crime. The curiosity of C.J. and Andy are now on high alert, and they keep their eyes open for any signs of poachers. It isn't long until the boys do spy some odd things going on, but they keep it to themselves until they can prove something beyond a doubt. The boys learn about the harmful things poachers do via the Internet, which convinces C.J. and Andy they have come upon some poachers in the act near the Washburn's secluded vacation cabin. The adventure takes off from here, and all four kids work to solve the mystery of the loud, black float-planes with blinking lights which take off, land and skim the water at full speed. The children encounter some very real and alarmingly dangerous situations, especially the boys. On a lighter note but just as interesting, the Washburn cousins learn all about the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, how catching Big Wally is the goal of every fisherman on the lake but yet how vulnerable any fish really is out of water, and how Jesus himself was a fisherman. They also get a very thorough lesson in the dangers of illegal poaching and how wrong and hurtful it is, especially to the animals. And finally, the families learn how important carrying on traditions can be, even though we may not see the importance at first. In my opinion, this book has all the important elements of a truly great work. I can recommend this book completely to any parent looking for a good story for their tween, p