Once again I have read a children’s book or is it a young adult book?

The main character of the book is Monique and she is fourteen years young. She lost both her parents, now she travels to her uncle and aunt who run a tourist hotel at the Kenyan coast. She helps her British uncle and her Dutch aunt with daily chores in the hotel en the adjacent bungalows. She helps the man who brings the daily supplies. She talks with the guests, and she joins local outings, for instance to a snake farm.

As is befitting for a protagonist Monique gets involved in an adventure. Guests complain about theft and the local police is unable to solve these crimes. But Monique due to her stubborness and her naivité, manages to find a trail that leads to the crook.

At the end of the story a visiting couple offers Monique to travel with them on a safari. This show how dated this book is, for nowadays an elderfly couple inviting a 14 year young girl on a safari (or any other journey) would be looked at as having ulterior motives.

Eva Marcus – Monique in Oost-Afrika – 122 pages