The Quest For Z by Greg Pizzoli

The Quest for Z tells the story of British cartographer, geographer and explorer Percy Fawcett's life and his quest to find what he called "Z", a lost ancient city that he believed lay deep in the Amazon jungle.

Percival Harrison Fawcett was born in 1867 in Torquay, England. He attended Newton Abbey Proprietary College and eventually attended the Royal Military Academy and was commissioned as a lieutenant of the Royal Artillery in 1886. Percy served in British Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka and it was here that he met Nina Agnes Paterson at a tennis party. Nina was born in Kalutara in 1870 and was educated in Scotland but returned to Ceylon afterwards. As her family disapproved of her relationship with Percy, their marriage was delayed for several years. Eventually they married and had three children, Jack born in 1903, Brian born in 1906 (deceased 1984) and Joan born in 1910 (deceased 2005).

Percy's father, Edward Boyd Fawcett was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS). Percy was bored with military life and wanted something more engaging as his life's work. So In 1901, he joined the RGS and studied surveying and map making. Percy's interest in South America was initiated by the President of the RGS who considered South America to have considerable economic potential. The RGS was entrusted as a neutral party with overseeing the mapping of the boundary between Brazil and Bolivia and the President offered Percy the job of undertaking this task. He accepted.


Percy's first trip into Boliva in 1906 was eye-opening. The terrain was mountainous, the villages very isolated and the people hostile and suspicious. Europeans had entered the jungle to capture the indigenous people to work as slaves in the rubber trade and so were often not trusted. The jungles were filled with strange and dangerous animals and insects including anaconda and Bushmaster snakes, poisonous spiders and wild boars. Percy worked for the Boundary Commission for three years and then continued exploring South America on his own. During this time he became convinced that a long lost city which he inexplicably named "Z" existed deep within the Amazon jungle. This was based on his knowledge of local legends.Eventually he was drawn back to Europe where he fought in the First World War. He returned to South America in 1920 but his expedition at that time was unsuccessful. Up to 1924, Percy Fawcett made seven expeditions into the wilds of the Amazon.


 By 1925, Percy, who was now fifty-seven years old and whose reputation as an explorer was declining, struggled to secure financial backing for yet another expedition to look for his lost city. Eventually he was able to finance his expedition and on April 20, 1925, Percy set out on what would be his final attempt with his son Jack, and Jack's best friend, Raleigh Rimmell. They left Cuiabla in Mato Grosso for the jungle. Initially things appeared to go well with local runners bringing back regular reports about their progress. However, four months into the expedition, as the they were entering an area known to be inhabited by hostile indigenous tribes, the updates ceased. Months and years passed but Percy Fawcett and his party were never heard from again. To this day his disappearance remains a mystery but it is most likely that Percy, his son and his party were killed by hostile Indians.

The Quest For Z recounts, in an engaging and informative way, many of the details of Percy Fawcett's story for younger readers. Percy Fawcett who lived as the age of exploration was winding down was famous world-wide for his jungle exploration. His accounts were widely read and included many exciting details many of which can be found in this account.

Author-illustrator Greg Pizzoli sets the stage for Percy Fawcett's interest in South America, with its unknown interior and wealth of legends. Using short paragraphs of text paired with Pizzoli's illustrations, young readers follow Percy's life as he develops an interest in exploration and eventually travels to South America. Side bars provide interesting facts about the Royal Geographical Society, the Amazon rainforest, mosquitoes and famous explorers.

The artwork in the book was inspired by the photographs and drawings Pizzoli made on trips to Central America and Southeast Asia. He used a variety of mediums including silkscreen, photographic halftones, Zipatone, photocopiers, newspapers, cut paper and Photoshop.

The book also contains an Author's Note, information about those who continued to hunt for Fawcett and his party, a Glossary and a list of Selected Sources. The Quest for Z by Greg Pizzoli is a really well done picture book about a historical figure the captured the imagination of people all over the world.

Book Details:

The Quest For Z by Greg Pizzoli
New York: Viking, Penguin Young Readers Group    2017
44 pp.