"Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow" by James Rollins

The themes of Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow would be an archeological theme and a lost and found theme. An archeological theme would fit because the whole book is based around different archeological items. And lost and found because he in way finds his parents. Even though they were killed when they were on an archeological dig in Central America. Jake does find some of the archeological facts and discoveries that his parents made. So he doesn’t find them in a face to face manner but he does find them in a spiritual way or in a professional way.
Some symbols in my book were the symbol of making a difference, never giving up no matter what the circumstances are, being strong mentally and physically, and being a leader. All of these symbols are symbols of Jake. Jake makes a difference by being himself. In school he is teased and sometimes beat up because other kids think that he is weird just because he likes to study artifacts. He also is not a very popular kid in the school. He has one good friend but even the one good friend sometimes thinks that he is a little weird sometimes even though they enjoy doing mostly the same things. Jake also never gives up. Jake is faced with many challenges in the book that test this strength and character. Not once in the book does Jake double think himself or not believe in his own abilities. Jake is strong in both mentally and physically. Just like never giving up Jake must be strong mentally and physically because he is faced with different challenges just to find his parents artifacts and to defeat the Skull King. Finally Jake is a good leader. He always stays strong and he guides the way. With some assistance from the natives. All of these things apply to Jake and they should apply to all people because these are all good attributes to have.
In multiple occasions Jake endures many different conflicts. The obvious conflict is that Jake has no Mom or Dad. Jake must live with his uncle. Also that Jake really doesn’t have any friends until he enters the mysterious land. Once he gets to the museum in London. A few other conflicts that Jake endures are the conflict of escaping the dinosaur. He has no clue where he is but all he knows is that he needs to get the heck away from the dinosaur. Finally he had this conflict since he got to this mysterious land; he needs to find a way home.
There were parts of the book that I liked and disliked. I liked that parts that were somewhat real. The parts I disliked were the fake parts. Me personally I hate fiction books. I would much rather read about something that actually happened rather than reading about things that can physically happen or just are made up things. Such as the witch on a broom stick or a ghost that haunts people. To me Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow was a fake book rather than a real book to me. But if you enjoy reading fiction books then you will like this book. Any one in high school can read this book. I am very glad that I am done with the book.