Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold by Iain Reading
Genre: Adventure, Mystery, Contemporary
Published By: Amazon
Pages: 298
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

‘The Curse of the Yukon Gold’ is the first in the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective series. I read the fourth book first, which, I know, makes little sense, so I was really excited to get the opportunity to read the other three books in the series, that’s apparently scheduled to be 13 books long! Wow!

Kitty Hawk, as a character, is very likeable. She has a dream and she chases it. She works hard for what she wants and isn’t afraid to ask for help. Overall, she’s a brilliant role model. I think its important in fiction for children and teenagers to be exposed to a diverse range of characters with different strengths. The fact that Kitty is a pilot, interested in science and is a great mystery solver really defies weak female protagonist stereotypes. Hopefully, books like ‘Kitty Hawk’, ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Matched’ are really helping to show just how powerful girls are.

As for the plot, its safe to say that this adventure takes place on a much smaller scale. Kitty is in Alaska, not too far from her Canadian home, unlike in the fourth book when she flying over Ireland and England. We were introduced to Charlie, a character Kitty emails at the beginning of her adventures, and a relationship I finally understand!

Like with the fourth book, there is the same level of research and storytelling. A consistent amount of the novel was devoted to the backstory of the mystery and explaining the significance of historical figures. It really is ingenious, how everything weaves together! To add to this, there are pictures and maps and screenshots, as well.

I no longer had to guess Kitty’s age; she’s eighteen, so it’s all perfectly safe for her to adventure around the world – again, it was lovely to see such a young person being so independent. It was also great to compare Kitty in the first and fourth book. In hindsight, she’s gone through a lot of character development, from a girl simply interested in biology and planes, to an international detective!

‘The Curse of the Yukon Gold’ has really inspired me to read the next book in the series ‘The Hunt for Hemingway’s Ghost,’ I can’t wait for even more adventure and mystery solving.