Neeka and the Storm (Wilder Zoo #2) by Tina Strachan, illustrated by Max Hamilton

Title: Neeka and the Storm (Wilder Zoo #2)

Author: Tina Strachan, illustrated by Max Hamilton

Genre: Contemporary

Publisher: HarperCollins Australia

Published: 2^nd July 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 256

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: The second book in the series about lucky Neeka Wilder – who lives at a zoo!

Eleven-year-old Neeka Wilder has always loved animals and is lucky enough to live at Wilder Zoo, where her mum is head vet.

The deadline for the school reading challenge is only a few days away and Neeka has a lot of reading to do.

Then a wild storm hits. Emergency evacuation plans are put in place and even Neeka’s bedroom turns into an animal nursery. But when the rain stops and the clean-up begins, focusing on reading becomes Neeka’s biggest challenge.

~*~

Eleven-year-old Neeka Wilder is back, and eager to keep helping out at the zoo. Except, she’s taking part in a reading challenge at school, and her class and school need enough points for a great prize. Neeka has lots of reading left to do for her final book, and feels loke she’s under pressure to get the points because it’s what one of her classmates wants. And she doesn’t want to miss out on the trip to the water park either. She’s getting there, but very slowly.

When a storm hits the zoo, everything seems to go wrong. There’s not enough staff, there’s no power and everyone needs help. Her focus is split – she can’t let her family and the zoo down, but she doesn’t want to let her class down either – so Neeka needs to get creative, and find a way to finish her last book.

The second book in the Wilder Zoo series sees Neeka grappling with two things she loves – reading and working at the zoo. Usually, she’s good at keeping on top of things, but this time, she’s going to learn what happens when she lets things slip. Like reading The Secret Garden for the reading challenge. The constant distractions aren’t helping – they’re never useful when you’re trying to focus on anything. I felt for Neeka, who wanted to do everything but had to make a choice, and I loved that she was reading one of my favourite books as well. It seemed like such a good fit for her when I found out what she was reading. It’s a great continuation of the series, which can be read in order or as the reader picks them up. The main thing that connects the stories are the characters and the zoo, rather than an ongoing plot or connected storylines.

I loved returning to Neeka’s world, and seeing more of the zoo, what she does, and the place they live. It brought so much of their world to life whilst celebrating reading and animals at the same time. I loved the community feel to this story as well – Neeka’s family, the zoo staff and her best friends, Hudson and Rumi want her to succeed, and have her best interests at heart. It’s a great story of unity and working hard to achieve your goals, even if it feels like it is impossible or difficult. Even when life throws up obstacles, there can be times you can work around them. Or find a way to make things work well and succeed at what your goal is. It’s a book that can teach kids that sometimes we need to do the things we have to do, so we can have fun later.

This is what makes this book work so well. It reminds kids that they can find a way to work through challenges, and that working as a team can help – even if it means letting other people take things on so you can do what you need to do. It’s an important reminder that team work can achieve great things, and what we can achieve when we set our minds to something. Everything in this book is done well, from the challenges to trying to work out what to do, things going wrong and things working out well, to remind kids that things can work out and to give them a reassuring ending. It’s a great addition to the series, and I am looking forward to seeing what comes next.