I’m sure many know of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not compendiums that come out every year, but did you know the company also released a lower school adventure series (plus a cartoon!)? I found out because of the CA store where they were selling them in the gift shop. Of course I gravitate to the book series instead of a mini-shrunken head.
I reread the series, and I think it still holds up. With eight book in total (plus two e-novellas that supposedly exist but I haven’t been able to find anywhere) written by Kay Wilkins, they follow a team of seven teens with enhanced skills of mimicry, athletic strength, animal communication, etc. Suitably diverse with a member from each continent, each novel sends a trio to a far-flung destination to investigate whether an unbelievable sighting is real or a hoax.
They also have a team of saboteurs in the form of DUL (Department of Unbelievable Lies) that seek to create hoaxes to ruin Ripley’s legacy for. . . reasons? They aren’t given any reason for why they are against people learning about wonderous things. Without names, and in uniform corporate wear, they are one-dimensional villains for the teens to go up against and predictably incompetent.
I found DUL to be unengaging. Luckily, they only appear in half the novels. Rather the strength lies in Wilkins basing the adventures on Ripley’s real-life finds of unbelievably mutated creatures and humans with special skills like Erik Sprauge the Lizard Man, a previously undiscovered island in Bornea holding thousands of thought-to-be extinct species, and leaps in technology made by Swiss scientists. Each book has Ripley’s Believe It or Not facts showcasing the real figures the adventures are based on, which will blow some kids’ minds that almost all the gadgets and cool skills featured in the books are based on real life. Fact is stranger than fiction indeed.
The teens are likable enough as protagonists although it’s clear that Wilkins has a soft spot for Max, the 14 year old tech genius and trouble-maker (yes he’s the American one), and for Zia, the mysterious survivor with unexplained electric powers. Or maybe they’re just more dynamic to use for character flaws and adventures. Personally, I get why Wilkins have a three agent per mission rule in order to keep the mission from being bloated, but I do wish she got a super special so readers could see how the team interacted all together, see more of the rivalries and friendships formed between them.
Anyway, if your kid wants some adventure books that will spark more interest in the amazing feats of the natural and technological world, they should give RBI a try.
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