Trouble In Timbuktu

by Cristina Kessler

Overview

Ayisha and Ahmed know there is trouble. Something is not right with this American archaeologist and his wife. Supposedly tourists. Why are they so interested in the ancient manuscripts of Timbuktu? Could they really be plotting to steal one? Well, they are more than old manuscripts to Ayisha and Ahmed--they are a rich part of their own heritage. No way are the two teens going to let this happen! They risk everything to stop them, embarking on a desperate quest that takes them across the desert, through a deadly heat, a sweeping sandstorm and fi nally to the port city of Korioume to confront and trap the wily thieves--and save a treasure of Timbuktu.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940157783785
Publisher:	Cristina Kessler
Publication date:	11/10/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	494 KB

About the Author

Cristina Kessler knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of ten, and since she was twelve, she knew she would travel the world. Not surprisingly, she put these two early dreams together.

A Peace Corps worker originally, she lived abroad for 30 years. For 19 of those years she called Africa home. Her love and respect for the people and her personal connection brings an authenticity and life to her stories rare in children’s books.

Committed to sharing these rich cultures with her American readers, she has authored No Condition Is Permanent, a story set in Sierra Leone, and the award-winning Our Secret, Siri Aang, a story of the Maasai set in Kenya. Trouble in Timbuktu, set in Mali, won the 2005 Africana Honor Book Award which is given by the African Studies Association annually, and honors outstanding authors and illustrators of books about Africa published for children and young adults in the United States.

She and her husband, Joe, currently reside on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but she still misses Africa like she left yesterday.

To learn more about Cristina Kessler, visit her website: www.cristinakessler.com

Editorial Reviews

Grade 6–9--Determined to catch a pair of tourists in the act of illegally purchasing ancient manuscripts in Timbuktu, Ayisha and her twin brother, Ahmed, embark on a risky entrapment scheme that takes them on a harrowing trip into the Sahara desert and down the Niger River. Although he's only 12, Ahmed is already an accomplished linguist who makes needed money for his family by guiding tourists around that fabled city.

School Library Journal - Kathleen Isaacs

Grade 7-12--For ignorant Westerners, Timbuktu is often a metaphor for a primitive place far from civilization, somewhere in wild Africa. Kessler dispels that myth, and working from her own experiences on several visits there, she celebrates Timbuktu's history. What was once a thriving commercial, religious, and academic center, stretching as far back as the eleventh century, the city is still renowned for Islamic studies.

Booklist - Hazel Rochman