Review: Explorer Academy Book 6 – The Dragon’s Blood

The Dragons Blood
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We received a free copy of the latest book in the Explorer Academy series by Trudi Trueit to read and review. Opinions are our own.

This Summer I read through the first five books in The Explorer Academy series. This is a series that is inspired by the National Geographic society and is published through National Geographic. It is a science fiction novel series where the science fiction is things not too far outside the realm of possibility. There are thins that may not even be a few years off as technology progresses. Then there are things within the series that seem way far outside of possibility. It is a fun series to read with tons of great puzzles and a pretty intricate plot with some big mysteries. I do not know how many books are planned for the series but the major mystery is nearing an end.

With the fallout from the gut wrenching events of Book Five hanging heavy on Cruz he has to put that aside and keep searching for the cipher because Nebula is closer than he knows. Our main character, Cruz Coronado is closing in on the last pieces of the cipher with the help of his friends on Team Cousteau. However, can Cruz trust everyone on his team or on the Orion, the amazing ship that the explorers are on as they cross the globe on their adventures? Reading this series makes me wish that this was real and that I could travel on one of these teams.

This book has the Explorers traveling to places like China and Tasmania. They are on the hunt for evidence of a species that was thought to be extinct. Meanwhile Cruz is coming to terms with the information that he learned in the previous book. Information about his mother’s formula and about him specifically.

It was a nice addition to the series but makes me really look forward to the seventh book because we are so close to finding the answers to so many questions. But, like any good series there are always more questions to ponder.

the book is filled with excellent illustrations as well as profiles on real like scientists and their own projects and how they relate to the content of the book. I love that these books add that information at the end of each book. I think the series can get kids thinking about all the possibilities out there and then seeing that real life scientists are working on so many projects that are similar to what they just read about is inspiring. You can pick up this book and the previous five books in the series through our Amazon.com affiliate link.

Delay is not Denial

Keeping it Together
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I’m really trying to keep it together in this photo from today. I had just found out, after taking a 4 hour grueling Krav Maga test, that I was not moving on to test for my black belt in December. This is something that I thought was a possibility in the back of my mind as I have been training. Now that it is a reality I have many emotions about it. Failure, sadness, anger at myself for not performing as best I can, relief, acceptance, doubt, resolve and determination to come back in the Spring and crush the tests.

After the test and doing the run (9:48), push ups (59), Squats (89) and Plank (a dismal 1:02) I was asked to come to gather my things and come to the pro shop. There were five of us there. Our instructor, Mr. B. told us that would be part of the Spring boot camp group to test for our black belt. Something that he told us was, Delay is not Denial. This means that just because we were not earning our black belts this time around doesn’t mean that we will never earn them. We each have things to work on and given the time and training we will get to the level that is expected of a black belt.

I had so many tough emotions today after that reality. When I got home I broke the news to the family. I got extremely choked up about it. I also knew that how I handled this setback was going to be a lesson not only for me but for my kids. Both kids are in Martial Arts as well and they have to know that failure is not the end. Falling down means getting back up and success means getting back up one more time than you fall. So, in april when I start Boot Camp again they will see me earn that black belt.