KIDS2019.03

BRIAN J. SKERRY / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (WHALE), SCOTT PLUMBE

(ILLUSTRATION), IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED; ANTONIO JAVIER CAPARO (BOOK COVER ART)

Twelve-year-oldCruz

Coronadoistraining

atExplorerAcademy

tobecomeanexplorer.

Buthehasmoreto

dealwiththan

school—likethefact

thatsomeone’sout

togethim.

FROM

THE

PAGES

OF

24 NAT GEO KIDS^ • MARCH 2019

BY TRUDI TRUEIT

In this excerpt from Explorer Academy: The Falcon’s Feather, Cruz

and his classmates are attempting to rescue a group of right whales

entangled in fishing nets. Cruz is assigned to communicate with the

mammals while underwater, using a helmet-like device called the

Universal Cetacean Communicator (UCC) that converts human

language to whale-speak and vice versa.

Cruz encounters one of the whales and urges his friends to follow—

before it’s too late. But it turns out the whales aren’t the only creatures

in danger. Cruz also finds himself fighting for his life ...