Death Down Under

Sylvia Pantaleo is an assistant professor of education specializing in
children’s literature at the University of Victoria. She is the
co-author of Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary
Classroom.

The Screech Owls travel to Sydney, Australia, to compete in the
first-ever “Oz Peewee Invitational.” The hockey games are exhibition
only, but to add a competitive edge, a “Mini-Olympics” is hosted by
the city. Many of the 2000 Olympic facilities are used for the
competition.

During their stay “down under,” some mysterious things happen.
While visiting the Sydney Aquarium, the Screech Owls witness the
regurgitation of a human head by a Great White Shark. Then, while
Travis, Sarah, and Nish are snorkelling for seahorses and seadragons
with Wiz, an Australian mate they met playing hockey, Nish is attacked
underwater by a stranger. Is there a connection between the human head
and Nish’s attackers?

The Screech Owls play several hockey games against Aussie teams and
even though MacGregor includes some original ideas, the nature of the
games (exhibition) makes them less engaging to read. Another subplot
involves the “Mini-Olympics”; Nish must find a way to overcome his
fear of heights in order to win the “Mini-Olympics” for Canada.

MacGregor provides readers with some interesting information about
Sydney. Although the novel includes the required elements for a Screech
Owls story, the subplots are not as smoothly woven in this book as they
are in other volumes in the series. Further, the explanation that the
Australian hosts would cover the costs of bringing the entire hockey
team down from Canada was incredibly unbelievable for this reader. Not a
first-choice purchase.