Books & Literature

Book Review: Xenoflight, by Nean McKenzie

MIDDLE-GRADE: An adventure story set in the Australian bush.

A delightful story of a totally new world hidden in the Australian bush.
4.5

Nean McKenzie is an optometrist and children’s author who was born in Bendigo but now lives in Melbourne. Xenoflight is the second book McKenzie has published and, although a standalone book, it stays in the world she has previously created around animals which may or may not exist on our planet.  They are called cryptids: animals which nobody has ever seen. Those creatures we see from the corner of our eyes at dusk or those found in folklore. Things like bunyips and yowies. 

Xenoflight is about 13-year-old Nessa Santiago. She is living with her Aunt Carla because her mother died in a circus accident and she has never met her father. And Nessa also has a secret. She has a pet “flerret” called Fernando, an animal which looks a bit like a ferret but has wings. She must keep Fernando a secret because HARKNESS is an organisation dedicated to ridding the world of cryptids. There are also people whose mission it is to keep these animals safe: they belong to an organisation called ICEPA (Investigators of Creatures at the Edge of People’s Awareness).

One day her Aunt mysteriously leaves in a helicopter without explanation just as Nessa is supposed to meet her long-lost father. Nessa decides to go and find her father as she is being chased by HARKNESS, presumably to capture Fernando. She is joined by her friend Kep, who is unable to see these creatures and is not sure whether Nessa is actually imagining everything. Added to this, Nessa seems to be followed by an enormous unknown bird that appears to always arrive when she gets in trouble. Together they set off across town and country Australia (Australian having the biggest concentration of Cryptids in the world) and along the way they meet members of ICEPA and various cryptids, all helping the two children to find Nessa’s dad.

Xenoflight is a fast-paced adventure, written in the third person, for 8-13-year-olds. It is easy to read and there is never time to get bored. The front cover by artist Jenna Vincent looks more like a huge dragon than any cryptid described in the book and feels less mysterious than the front cover of McKenzie’s previous novel Cryptosight. Xenoflight has adventure, danger, suspense, excitement and family love. 

McKenzie has once again woven a tale which makes us wonder what we may come across when walking in the Australian bush if we’d only just stop and listen. It is a story of saving those we love, being brave and trusting others despite first impressions. 

Xenoflight is a welcome addition to McKenzie’s new world of cryptids and those who loved Cryptosight will want to read this new offering. As Xenoflight is a standalone novel, it can be read in isolation, but if you read this one first, you will certainly want to read Cryptosight. One again, this would be an excellent class novel and there is much scope for extension at work: creating new cryptids and children writing their own cryptid adventure. 

Reviewed by Sue Mauger

This review is the opinion of the reviewer and not Glam Adelaide.

Distributed by: MidnightSun Publishing
Released: May 2022
RRP: $17.99

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