Quest of the Snow Leopard (Tempo Books)

Loosely based on real experiences, this novel chronicles Ken Lewis and John Benton's experiences on an expedition in Yunnan in China and the Tibetan frontier. They are on an expedition from a museum to take a collection from China, and if possible capture a living snow leopard. There is plenty of excitement from man-eating tigers, to pirates, to experiences among the natives. The author, Roy Chapman Andrews, was a famous explorer in China. He wrote this book to give teens a view of how museum expeditions were run. I really enjoyed this book as a teen and so bought it as an adult. Since the book was written in 1962, some of preconceptions in the book may clash with modern sensibilities (the animals are shot for the museum, racial views), but these issues are minor, and makes it an interesting snapshot of the time.