Zoe & Zak and the Tiger Temple

Zoe & Zak, Book 3

De: Lars Guignard

Narrado por: Sonja Field

Zoe and Zak have learned some things since their first semester at Moonstock Himalayan Academy in India:

#1 Don't trust the parrots.

#2 Don't eat the food.

#3 And most importantly... Don't stick around if something crawls out of the lava hole beneath your school.

Last semester, Zoe and Zak returned the first lost Noble Truth to its rightful home. Now, the seventh graders are back in India for their second semester at Moonstock, their boarding school high in the Himalayan mountains where impossible things seem to happen on a regular basis.

School kicks off with the Activity Week Challenge in the tiny mountain kingdom of Bhutan where the students must deliver medical supplies. Things take a turn for the worse when Zak becomes deathly ill after an encounter with a strange floating bubble. On returning to Moonstock, Zoe and Zak discover that a creature has come through the lava hole far below their dormitory. When Zoe and Zak follow the creature, they soon learn what they must do. They have been tasked with finding the second lost Noble Truth--the Tiger Eye of Justice.

Finding the Tiger Eye sounds like an impossible mission, and it's only made more confusing when Zak discovers that he has been given a powerful gift to help with the task. But Zak's new gift is a double-edged sword, and if Zoe and Zak don't find the Tiger Eye quickly, Zak's time will run out.

The Tiger Temple takes Zoe and Zak deep into an exotic world of magical enchantment and heart-pounding action. It promises to be the most thrilling Zoe and Zak adventure yet.

ABOUT:

Zoe & Zak and the Tiger Temple is the third book in the Zoe and Zak series. It is preceded by the best-selling first book, Zoe & Zak and the Ghost Leopard, and book two, Zoe & Zak and the Yogi's Curse.

©2014 Lars Guignard (P)2014 Fantastic Press

Awesome Kids Adventure

I think by now you know that I am a huge fan of Lars Guignard. I absolutely love the Zoe & Zak series, both reading the story and listening to the audiobooks. My older daughter and I both love Zoe & Zak’s adventurous spirits. We know when picking up a Zoe & Zak story that we’re going on a grand adventure and we’re going to enjoy every minute of it. Zoe & Zak and the Tiger Temple by Lars Guignard has been our favorite story so far. It was really exciting to listen to. We both enjoy the narrator. Lars has a writing style that makes the story feel genuine. If you love brave little heroes and fun adventures, this series is one you need to read or listen to (or both!).

Perfection! Best Narration I've Heard Yet!

This is the third Zoe & Zak book I've listened to on audio and I have to say, they just keep getting better and better. There are so many things I love about this series so I hope that I can express my love well enough that you know that this is a series you MUST get!

Zoe and Zak are perfect compliments to each other. Zoe is more serious and Zak is all about the fun. In the past they've had to deal with some serious life or death situations, but things step up another notch in this one and things are so serious that Zak could die if they don't figure things out. It's clear that Zoe is freaking out and it's not really helping much. Zak on the other hand is handling things well and gives us some comedic relief. Not that the book feels so 'scary' or whatever, but knowing that things really ARE serious makes it a bit more intense.

In this book there's a new bad, but who would have guessed it to be the new student who seems to get his way with everything and everyone? He has it out for Zak and will go to any lengths to make Zak look bad, or to get him in trouble.

One thing I really, really love about these books is the culture. I think it's important to teach our kids about other cultures and so them being at a boarding school in India is perfect. It's an international school and Zoe and Zak are American, so we can follow things easily. But they are experiencing Indian culture everyday. And Zoe does a good job of explaining the foods and the different words used, etc. So we don't get too much and can feel like we are really there. I appreciated that the words they use in India were used and explained. For example, the word 'walla' (I listened to the audio so the spelling might be wrong) is someone who sells something. So when they say the 'bike walla' we know what they are talking about, it's the person selling the bikes.

I have watched some shows about the scary roads in the Himalaya's so it was easy for me to really picture things as they were barreling down (or up) the mountain and Zoe feeling like they would fall off the cliff at any minute. There were so many times in this book that I found myself just staring off into the distance listening intently. I listen while doing things usually (cooking, cleaning, etc) so this was impressive that it pulled me out of doing stuff to where I concentrated completely on the story.

The narration is pure BRILLIANCE. I have listened to quite a few audiobooks and there's not many narrators that can pull off a variety of voices. Sonja Field does it all perfectly. We get Zoe and Zak and their two distinctive voices that are easy to tell apart. We also get the various Indian accents, somehow still distinctive from each other. We also get some British accents and a few other voices but on top of that we get the various things like the talking elephant Alta, the creature called Mon Sta and various other animals that all had their own incredible voices. Oh and the parrot that we get in this one, also done perfectly. This is definitely the best narration I have heard in an audiobook yet.

If you have a reluctant reader this is a series I recommend. This is perfect for middle grade readers up to adults. It's a series the whole family can enjoy together. It's a perfect pace of adventure with fabulous characters, a wonderful setting, and an intense plot that keeps you wrapped up and anxious for more . I couldn't recommend this any more highly. It's perfection.

Very good installment

These books are tough for me to assess. They have good writing, likable characters, realistic dialog, and are relatively light. But there is something that makes me slightly uncomfortable. Maybe it's just how foreign the culture and mythology is, compared to, say, the Greek mythology of Percy Jackson. Maybe it's how completely random some of the experiences seem to be. Things can be a bit jarring and hard to follow when they are so random.

This book specifically was good, though it was one of those "everything stops working for no reason" sequels. Spoilers ahead. The yogi powers suddenly stop working due to lack of concentration. The flying carpet stops working due to... something. The flying elephant phone doesn't work. Etc.

Anyway, it's still a fun story. If you liked the previous books, you'll love this one.

Wow what an Adventure!

What about Sonja Field’s performance did you like?

Loved the voice transitions, very nice! She is a great reader for this series!

Any additional comments?

Zoe and Zak’s adventures are so entertaining I love listening to them. In this, the third book in the series, Zoe and Zak are back at Moonstock Academy and have been sent on the mission to find the 2nd lost noble truth- The Tiger Eye of Justice. This was a wonderful plot for the third book, it continues on the original series quite well and leaving the number of Noble Truths open ended allows for so many other books in the next books…I found that clever.A few things had me really hooked while listening to this installment; the first was that there was more urgency to their adventure. Not that someone was taken or anything like that, but Zak is sick and in order to make sure he gets well again they must complete the mission in a certain timeline. Another was that Zak has a lot more of a role in this book, since he is affected by the outcome he has a larger role in the overall adventure. And lastly, there is a parrot, he is hilarious – I think he was my favorite part of this book!Zoe is her normal self, considering herself the planner and one that knows best. Zak again is the more adventurous of the two but he is really smart and I love their dynamic when they work together. Other characters were just as interesting and fun to follow, we learn more about Tuk, Zak’s roommate and his businesses on the campus of the academy and a little about Jill – they are both super supportive and helpful. Also thrown in is a mysterious new kid who is causing trouble for everyone.Like his other books Guignard does a wonderful job of interspersing the adventure with a lot of interesting history and facts, and he does it in a way that does not seem like learning. I think this is a great series and continue to love that it is set in India, which allows for an explosion of cultural information and history to be provided to young readers.

Adventure, friendship, and magic! Terrific!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely!

The Setting: The mystical and magical culture of India. The adventure, danger, and beauty of the Himalayan mountains. The poverty and need present in Bhutan.

The Characters: I love Zoe and Zak but I have to admit that Zak is still my favorite. Zoe is serious and takes care of business and Zak takes life by the seat of his pants and always makes me laugh. They balance each other out perfectly. In addition to Zoe and Zak we get to revisit with Jill and Tuk, Monsta, Mr. Muk, and the flying elephant, Alta. One of my favorite additions to The Tiger Temple character cast is Open Sesame, Zak’s new parrot.

The Adventure: Off the charts adventure that educates the reader/listener without them even knowing it. You get the opportunity to learn about indian culture and mythology, common words of India, and the beauty and magic of the region.

It is a series that anyone can enjoy.

What did you like best about this story?

I love the way the author weaves modern day India in with the mythological and cultural aspects of this region.

Any additional comments?

The narrator, Sonja Field, is fantastic! She has given Zak, Zoe, and all the other characters of this fantastic series distinct personalities and brings the amazing setting that Lars Guignard has created to life.