Ted and Susan Johnson, an American boy and girl spending six months in Kenya with their scientist parents, Earl and Jean, adopt a cheetah, only to realize that they must set her loose so that she can learn to hunt and be free. However, when she is captured by poachers planning to race her against greyhounds, Ted and Susan, together with Morogo, a young African goat herder they befriended, head off into the wild to rescue her.—David Mullich