AMAZON DIARY

Subtitled ``The Jungle Adventures of Alex Winters,'' this is a slice of the fictitious life of sixth grader Alex Winters, who details his trip to the Amazon through a handwritten journal that includes his scribblings, snapshots, and drawings. A plane crash provides an unforeseen opportunity for Alex to live among the Yanomami, or ``Fierce People.'' Overcoming great fear and overwhelming obstacles, Alex witnesses wild and unfamiliar religious practices and quickly learns to hunt alligator and tapir, eat roasted grubs, battle electric caterpillars, fire ants, and lice. By no means a complete portrait of the Yanomami, this is an accessible glimpse into the daily life of these isolated rainforest dwellers, a valuable starting place for discussion. Talbott (Excalibur, p. 1057) and Greenberg have created an account of Alex's adventures that makes for an exciting story, albeit a farfetched one. In a book crafted with the goal of teaching respect for other cultures, the blond-hero-who-drops-out-of-the-sky-and- saves-the-day-with-technology ending is patronizing and hard to swallow. (Picture book. 7+)