Rescue on Nim's island by Wendy Orr

Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN 9781743316788.
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Conservation, Sustainability, Island life, Adventure. After the first two successful stories of Nim and her island (Nim's island, and Nim at sea) it is a pleasure to read another about this resourceful child living with her father, Jack on a remote island now a wildlife sanctuary. Conservation and sustainability are the undeniable themes of this book, and are woven skillfully into the story. Jack has allowed a group of scientists on the island to further his research into biofuel using algae. Nim is surprised that he has said yes to this, because they remain very strict about the island's location although in the first two books, the wonderfully ironic Troppo Tours cruise shop seems to sail by regularly, in one causing the death of Nim's mother.
But now with two sets of scientists and their children along with the reappearance of Edmund, the scene is set for some nasty work by one pair of intruders, with hints about their real agenda coming early, when Nim finds that they are last minute replacements for an expected husband and wife team of biologists.
Nim has discovered a new cave system on the island and when the children explore it, find a fossilised turtle alongside a nursery colony of bats. She shows the other children and together they fight to protect the site from the opportunistic pair, putting their own lives in great peril.
An exciting read, full of the sorts of adventures that will grab the readers to the end of the tale, this book is one which will entertain and inform students about conservation and all it entails, in the tradition of Colin Thiele's environmentally concerned stories, and would make an excellent read aloud. Two films have been made using these books.
Fran Knight