Native Tongue, fourth book in award winning author Shannon Greenland’s The Specialists series, continues the adventures of GiGi and the rest of the Specialists. Published in 2008 by Penguin Group, Native Tongue is a spy thriller, a young adult novel about facing fears.
Native Tongue a Suspense Story
The Specialists’ linguist Darren, named Parrot for his language abilities, is called on for a mission in a native South American tribe. Fifteen different tribes claim the ownership of an ancient vase with cultural importance. Now as they meet, it is Parrot’s job to sit in as an undercover translator. Meanwhile, GiGi is sent to a cave with hieroglyphics that will reveal the true owners of the vase – if she can decode them with her newly completed decoding program. When one of the tribal chiefs turns out to be a man from Parrot’s past, he is not sure he can complete the mission.
Native Tongue is the most suspenseful of the first four The Specialists series novels. With his mission taking Parrot back to his roots, he is forced to face a tribal chief from his life before joining the Specialists, and all the fears surrounding the reunion. As in the previous novel, The Winning Element, in which GiGi must learn to separate her personal feelings from the mission, Parrot faces a similar dilemma. In addition, the mission leads GiGi and Parrot into life-threatening situations which they must learn to handle on their own.
The Specialists Good Books for Young Adults
Throughout The Specialists series novels, GiGi’s first person narration matures with her character. A smart, but scatterbrained and clumsy teenage girl, her narration adds humour to each story, including Native Tongue, in spite of its serious nature. Throughout the novel, readers learn about Parrot alongside GiGi. Native Tongue continues the engrossing storyline about the Specialists lives outside of their missions, and adds yet another lesson to be learned. Moreover, the story successfully draws its young adult readers in, especially after having read the first three novels and come to know and love the characters.
Native Tongue is a thrilling adventure, a young adult suspense novel, continuing the story of the Specialists – but it is not the end of The Specialists series. Book five, Fight to the Finish, completes the story of the Specialists with a mission that is close to their hearts, but hard to accomplish. For dedicated readers, Shannon Greenland has released an electronic version of Fight to the Finish.
Michelle Wright - Michelle is an avid reader and writer, with a focus on book, film and music reviews, gluten free recipes, and fiction writing "how-tos."
Join the Conversation