The Case of the Vanishing Brown Bats
By Sandra Markle
48 pages; ages 9-12
Millbrook Press, 2014
If you're looking for a perfect Halloween mystery, this book's for you. You see, little brown bats were once among the most common kinds of
bats in North America. But by 2013, their population had dropped so low that
scientists wondered whether they should be listed as endangered species.
[perfect spot for spooky musical interlude]
This story begins in 2007, when a team of scientists from
the NY State Dept. of Environmental Conservation goes to a cave near Albany.
Their job: to count hibernating bats. What they found were lots of dead bats,
some with fuzzy white noses. The following year they found even more dead bats.
What was killing the bats? Was it climate change?
Pesticides? A virus?
In her book, Sandra Markle follows a team of scientists
working on the bat-killer mystery. She follows them into caves and into their
labs. The scientists determine that the killer is a fungus – but they still
have more questions: what will happen to the populations of other animals that
depend on the bats? Some animals rely on bats for their suppers, and farmers
rely in bats to control crop-munching insects in the ecosystem.
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Markle provides amazing bat facts and lists ways people can
help their local bats. She’s also got a long list of books and other resources
for folks who want to explore bats more deeply.
Today is Halloween. It's also STEM Friday! Head over to the STEM Friday blog to
see what other people are reviewing. On Monday we'll join the roundup over at
the Nonfiction Monday blog where you'll find even more book reviews. Review
copy provided by publisher
What a wonderful idea to write a non-fiction science book like a mystery. That should get the kids clambering for it. I will definitely be checking this one out. Thanks for telling me about it.
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent story! Mystery solving scientists! I guess all scientists are solving mysteries of one kind or another. I'll be checking this one out! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely have to check this out! I had my 6th grade students read about white nose syndrome in Bats back in 2008 and we wrote letters to Alan Hicks who was one of the scientists working on this from the NY Dept. of Conservation. I wonder if he is mentioned in this book? We never heard back, but I've been interested in it ever since. I am new to your blog, excited to follow it!
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