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Battle for the Badgers
124 pages, Paperback
Published December 31, 1990
About the author
Anthony Masters
263 books13 followersAnthony Masters was a writer, educator and humanitarian of exceptional gifts and prodigious energy. He was, in the parlance of his spiritual ancestors, the ancient mariners, that rare voyager "as gracious as a trade wind and as dependable as an anchor".
He leaves 11 works of adult fiction – notably, Conquering Heroes (1969), Red Ice (1986, with Nicholas Barker), The Men (1997), The Good and Faithful Servant (1999) and Lifers (2001) – and was in the process of completing another, Dark Bridges, which he thought would be his best. Many of these works carry deep insights into social problems that he gained, over four decades, by helping the socially excluded, be it by running soup kitchens for drug addicts or by campaigning for the civic rights of gypsies and other ethnic minorities.
His non-fiction output was typically eclectic. It ranged from the biographies of such diverse personalities as Hannah Senesh (The Summer that Bled, 1972), Mikhail Bakunin (Bakunin: the father of anarchism, 1974), Nancy Astor (Nancy Astor: a life, 1981) and the British secret service chief immortalised by Ian Fleming in his James Bond books (The Man Who Was M: the life of Maxwell Knight, 1984), to a history of the notorious asylum Bedlam (Bedlam, 1977).
He leaves 11 works of adult fiction – notably, Conquering Heroes (1969), Red Ice (1986, with Nicholas Barker), The Men (1997), The Good and Faithful Servant (1999) and Lifers (2001) – and was in the process of completing another, Dark Bridges, which he thought would be his best. Many of these works carry deep insights into social problems that he gained, over four decades, by helping the socially excluded, be it by running soup kitchens for drug addicts or by campaigning for the civic rights of gypsies and other ethnic minorities.
His non-fiction output was typically eclectic. It ranged from the biographies of such diverse personalities as Hannah Senesh (The Summer that Bled, 1972), Mikhail Bakunin (Bakunin: the father of anarchism, 1974), Nancy Astor (Nancy Astor: a life, 1981) and the British secret service chief immortalised by Ian Fleming in his James Bond books (The Man Who Was M: the life of Maxwell Knight, 1984), to a history of the notorious asylum Bedlam (Bedlam, 1977).
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
February 6, 2013
A friend bought this for me for the badgers on the cover, and since I do occasionally read kids/young adult books on topics which interest me. I expected the animals to play a larger role in the story so my review is tainted with the disappointment that comes from less than 3 pages worth of badgers in a 124 page book.
It's not a challenging read, and is very appropriate for kids who like both animals and Boxcar Children style mysteries. Battle For The Badgers is the first in a series called "Green Watch" which is named after the mystery-solving environmental activist organization formed by the main character's uncle and two cousins. The main plot of the story is "Who's trying to kill the badgers / will they succeed?" and the answer will not surprise anyone, even the target audience.
I'm not sure if the rest of the Green Watch books get better as they travel around and solve more mysteries, but the concept seemed a bit contrived. Characters kept saying things like "We're having a Green Watch meeting." and "Green Watch isn't popular with the authorities." Since 'Green Watch' is composed of three people who are all related and 2/3 minors, it seemed very silly to refer to the group as if it were some high profile organization -- no, the authorities had problems with your FAMILY, specifically your crazy uncle, not his delusions of grandeur. Even at the end of the book when Green Watch gains more members, the only member older than a pre-teen is the uncle. However this is pretty commmon for Boxcar Children type settings -- a motley crew of precocious kids and one adult father figure who provides the money and encouragement for their adventures.
Overall this book would have gotten three stars for a completely average kid's book if it hadn't missed out on the opportunity to educate the readers as to why protecting the badgers was important in the first place.
1) One of the characters claims the badgers are harming his cattle. The best the good guys come up with is "that's a lie." Of course it is a lie, but many farmers really do believe that badgers pose a threat to their livestock through allegedly spreading bovine TB and cattle 'stepping in' their underground burrows and breaking their legs. It would have been extremely valuable to take that conversation and extend it by a page where the farmer and some Green Watch member go at it and present the argument for and against badger culling. Even if it's heavily skewed towards the authors interest (protecting badgers), its a disservice not to present any arguments supporting why there is a dispute in the first place.
2) There is no time spent explaining the importance of badgers in an ecological system. European badgers are very important members of their environment, have complex social systems, and can live in setts that are hundreds of years old. However the best we get as a reason not to kill them is... we shouldn't. Why? Because that's Wrong. Why? I don't know, because they're cute? Not really, because when they finally see badgers there isn't even a physical description.
3) Ultimately it boils down to a land dispute between two characters where the reader is supposed to care more about one of the human characters in the dispute than the badgers caught in the middle. Its sad that the badgers would be victims, but you'd think that a book with BATTLE FOR THE BADGERS as the title would try to make us care about the animals they're trying to save rather than a property dispute between two humans. In the end the reason everyone feels motivated to solve the mystery is the human character. It's explicitly stated.
So at the end of the day, Battle for the Badgers isn't really about badgers but should really be called "Battle Between Two Humans with a Property Dispute and Badgers Just Happen To Live On The Land."
It's not a challenging read, and is very appropriate for kids who like both animals and Boxcar Children style mysteries. Battle For The Badgers is the first in a series called "Green Watch" which is named after the mystery-solving environmental activist organization formed by the main character's uncle and two cousins. The main plot of the story is "Who's trying to kill the badgers / will they succeed?" and the answer will not surprise anyone, even the target audience.
I'm not sure if the rest of the Green Watch books get better as they travel around and solve more mysteries, but the concept seemed a bit contrived. Characters kept saying things like "We're having a Green Watch meeting." and "Green Watch isn't popular with the authorities." Since 'Green Watch' is composed of three people who are all related and 2/3 minors, it seemed very silly to refer to the group as if it were some high profile organization -- no, the authorities had problems with your FAMILY, specifically your crazy uncle, not his delusions of grandeur. Even at the end of the book when Green Watch gains more members, the only member older than a pre-teen is the uncle. However this is pretty commmon for Boxcar Children type settings -- a motley crew of precocious kids and one adult father figure who provides the money and encouragement for their adventures.
Overall this book would have gotten three stars for a completely average kid's book if it hadn't missed out on the opportunity to educate the readers as to why protecting the badgers was important in the first place.
1) One of the characters claims the badgers are harming his cattle. The best the good guys come up with is "that's a lie." Of course it is a lie, but many farmers really do believe that badgers pose a threat to their livestock through allegedly spreading bovine TB and cattle 'stepping in' their underground burrows and breaking their legs. It would have been extremely valuable to take that conversation and extend it by a page where the farmer and some Green Watch member go at it and present the argument for and against badger culling. Even if it's heavily skewed towards the authors interest (protecting badgers), its a disservice not to present any arguments supporting why there is a dispute in the first place.
2) There is no time spent explaining the importance of badgers in an ecological system. European badgers are very important members of their environment, have complex social systems, and can live in setts that are hundreds of years old. However the best we get as a reason not to kill them is... we shouldn't. Why? Because that's Wrong. Why? I don't know, because they're cute? Not really, because when they finally see badgers there isn't even a physical description.
3) Ultimately it boils down to a land dispute between two characters where the reader is supposed to care more about one of the human characters in the dispute than the badgers caught in the middle. Its sad that the badgers would be victims, but you'd think that a book with BATTLE FOR THE BADGERS as the title would try to make us care about the animals they're trying to save rather than a property dispute between two humans. In the end the reason everyone feels motivated to solve the mystery is the human character. It's explicitly stated.
So at the end of the day, Battle for the Badgers isn't really about badgers but should really be called "Battle Between Two Humans with a Property Dispute and Badgers Just Happen To Live On The Land."
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review