The Endangered Files #1: The Case of the Cursed Dodo by Jake Panda

Jake Panda flies to Morocco after receiving a frantic phone call from The Professor, a rare hispid hare. His search for the hare leads to a mystery involving a suitcase found in the middle of the Sahara Desert and dodo birds, thought to be extinct for many years. A fortune teller says there's a Green Bird in Jake's future, and he must look beneath a tree stump and a vine. Poachers sidetrack him, and there are many criminals trying to get their hands on Jake and the contents of the suitcase. Jake meets an old special friend, and the Endangered Underground works in the shadows. It's hard to tell the good guys from the bad, but Jake must find a way if he hopes to save The Professor and the Green Bird.

The style reminds me a bit of Bruce Hale's Chet Gecko stories. The characters in this book are endangered animals, which is an interesting twist, and the story is told as though the reader is watching an old black and white movie. The characteristics of the animals are used in the plot and create some humorous mental pictures; a manatee floats on an inner tube, and a snake is tied in knots to a rickshaw. The story was easy to read and flowed nicely. The adventure, mystery, and humor made this a very fun book to read!