2015: Haritada Kaybolmak. Transl. M. Kazmaoğlu. Istanbul: Günisigi Kitapligi. 230 pp.

Geography is not boring at all

Vladimir Tumanov, who wrote a book to help his son love mathematics, this time focuses on geography. In order for two brothers to get rid of the trouble they caused, their mapping skills need to improve. The novel's story-line travels from riddle to riddle as the protagonists follows clues and discover countries, continents, rivers and mountains.  The breath-taking adventure makes learning fun and emphasizes the importance of geography in our lives. Evaluating the available data and directing the characters toward problem solving, the book improves map reading and encourages research from reference sources such as encyclopedias.

Plot

The quiet life of the brothers Chris and Francis Alt takes an unexpected turn and becomes a nightmare when they take shelter in a strange novelty shop during a rainstorm.  They find a box of mysterious candies and  eat them all up without permission.  Soon, the boys begin to age rapidly — 1 year every day for every eaten candy.  At this rate, the brothers have only a couple of months before they turn into  old men and die of old age. The only way out is to solve riddles that appear on an ancient world map. As if this wasn't bad enough, a ruthless reporter is after the boys, wanting their amazing map for his television show.  Now the two aging heroes have to escape from the reporter and from their terrible fate.  As they grow older and older, their life force begins to run out.  Can the brothers win the race against the merciless clock before it's too late...