Thirteen-year-old Ricky Di+a7az undertakes a daring adventure to Mexico to avenge the murder of his mother at the hands of a vicious drug cartel. By the author of Rescue Josh McGuire. Grade 6-8-- As in Rescue Josh McGuire (Hyperion, 1991), Mikaelsen aptly describes a 13-year-old boy's emotional response to an appalling event. Ricky Diaz, the son of an ex-Drug Enforcement Agency pilot, vows to avenge the death of his mother, an innocent victim of the international drug war. When he overhears his father refuse a secret mission to confiscate the Skyhawk, a Mexican drug cartel's plane (equipped with radar stolen from the DEA), Ricky decides to do it himself. Spanish-speaking and confident in his ability to fly small aircraft, he heads for the border. Once across, he lives among the rateros (homeless children) and meets Soledad, a streetwise waif who shares not only survival tips, but also strategies for penetrating the high-security cartel compound. Ultimately Ricky accomplishes his goal, but not without the last minute intervention of his father. Although the plot is far-fetched, many aspects of the novel ring true. The characterization is strong, the depiction of street life realistic, and the theme timely. This fast-paced tale should appeal to a varied audience, including reluctant readers. --Pat Katka, San Diego Public Library Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Ricardo (``Ricky'') lives with his widower father Benito in an Arizona border town. Benito, formerly with the Drug Enforcement Agency, is teaching his son to fly--illegally, since Ricky's only 13. Meanwhile, eavesdropping on his father and some DEA agents, Ricky learns that his mother didn't die accidentally, as he's been told, but was murdered by drug-cartel members--the same men who've stolen a DEA radar-equipped plane that Ricky vows to get back. Posing as a homeless Mexican, he invades the druglords' compound, seizes the plane, and flies home. Concerns about being a ``quitter'' nearly sink this adventure, as do two abrupt breaks from Ricky's point of view to his father's. But Mikaelsen pens savage scenes of Mexican street life, pokes fun at government officials, provides action-packed aerial sequences, and somehow pulls off his premise that a 13-year-old could put one over on seasoned drug traffickers. Innocent and appealing. (Fiction. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Ben Mikaelsen is the award-winning author of many books for children, including Petey , Countdown , Rescue Josh McGuire , Stranded , and Sparrow Hawk Red . He lives in Bozeman, Montana.