By James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
4Rbooks: 4/6, grades 4-7
Amazon rating: 4.8/5, grades 3-7
Good Reads: 4.32/5
Common Sense Media: 4/5, ages 11+
Pages 449 (lots of illustrations)
Synopsis:
The Kidds, Tommy, Stephanie (Storm), Bick and Beck, are on another adventure. They are working alone since their father is still missing and their mom is being held captive in Cyprus. They are looking for treasure among the ruins of Spanish Galleon ships when they are ambushed by arch nemesis Nathan Collier, who is then ambushed by their “uncle” Timothy, a CIA agent.
Timothy takes the Kidds to New York city and petitions a judge to become their legal guardian. He then enrolls the children into a prep school. While there, they find a clue left behind by their father to treasures in Africa. The Kidds escape from the prep school and follow their father’s maps and clues to Egypt.
They began a treasure hunt through Egypt and surrounding African countries. Chased by pirates, other treasure hunters, and many wild animals (hippos, pythons, wild boars, chimpanzees), they manage to survive and continue their search through deserts, jungles, and deep-sea diving. They have one goal, find the treasure that can rescue their mom, and maybe find their dad along the way, too.
Parental Guidance: medium
The entire story is about two teenagers and two 11-year-olds who are
traveling the world, often by themselves.
The children are in several cartoonish, but potentially dangerous situations.
Encounters with wild animals and machine gun/grenade launcher
carrying adults.
Bick almost loses his feet to trench foot/gangrene.
There is a fat joke at Stephanie’s expense.
Recommendation:
This is a soon-to-be 8 book series (number 8 coming out in May). Unknowingly, I started with book 6 which I liked. I thought it was a silly, fun adventure mystery with lots of historical and geographical details thrown in. I then went to book 1, which I wasn’t thrilled with, and didn’t recommend. There was a meanness present that I didn’t think would provide a positive message for children.
Not sure what to expect with book 2, I was pleasantly surprised. These books play out like a cross between James Bond and A Series of Unfortunate Events. There are treasure hunt clues, amazing tools, and exciting adventures, though at times, it feels like there are too many adventures and the book drags. I keep thinking it should be about 100 pages shorter and get to the conclusion sooner. There is sameness to the adventures and it’s easy to predict what may becoming next.
The chapters are short and there are many cartoon-like illustrations (drawn by Beck, Bick is the storyteller) that will appeal to reluctant readers, though the length might scare them away. These are interesting enough to keep children reading and coming back for more, but there is also the chance that they will get bored with the characters and adventures unless there are some amazing twists and turns in the stories I haven’t read yet. Start with one book and wait to see the response before moving on to any others.
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