Carew

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Harvard,
Massachusetts.

Sir Jeffrey Parnell has only the purest intentions as a scientist and
leader of an expedition in Nepal whose goal is to find unusual and
unknown animals. Yet, when such a creature is discovered it becomes
evident that his field assistant Darby and his benefactor Carew are both
greedy, opportunistic, and cruel villains who lust for money and power
and care only about themselves. It is Sir Jeffrey’s teenage niece and
her companion Evan who come to understand that the creature’s capture
has threatened to upset the balance of the natural world, and together
take the necessary steps to thwart the villains and return the creature
to its rightful place.

This young-adult novel wonderfully combines adventure, travel, mystery,
fantasy, and romance. The plot is imaginative, and the exotic location
of Nepal, with its themes of spirituality and ecology, is a perfect
setting for the unusual story. Though the characters are somewhat
stereotypical—the British scientist and his niece are formal, polite,
old-fashioned, and moral, seeming to come from a former time; the
American billionaire is crass, rude, greedy, and willing to exploit
anything for his own gain, including the leading edge of science—they
are memorable and distinctive.

Carew is an intriguing book that both entertains and enlightens. Highly
recommended.