By James Patterson and Chris Granbenstein
Illustrated by Juliana Neufeld
Amazon rating: 4.9/5, grades 3-7
Good Reads: 4.38/5
Common Sense Media: Not Reviewed
4Rbooks: 5/6, grades 3-7
347 pages
Synopsis:
The world-famous treasure hunters, the Kidd family, are in Washington D.C. preparing an exhibit for the Smithsonian detailing their recent discovery of Paititi, the lost city of gold in Peru. While mom and dad are busy making the exhibit perfect, the children are finding that staying in one place can be boring. They are so used to traveling the world, exploring, and solving mysteries about los treasure.
Then Uncle Richie shows up and leads the children on a cross country adventure. It starts in the California desert unearthing a buried ship rumored to be filled with black pearls. From there they travel to Virginia looking for long-lost Civil War treasure and then find themselves involved in a 30-year-old art museum theft and a plot to forge the Bill of Rights with significant changes to the meaning of the first amendment.
Will the children be able to use Uncle Richie’s smarts and skills, Tommy’s athleticism, Stephanie’s (better known as Storm) brilliance, and Bick and Beck’s twin sense to rescue the treasures, solve the Bill of Rights mystery, and save the future of the country. All the while avoiding “The Enlightened Ones.” Bick is the recorder of the story and Beck is the illustrator.
Parental Guidance: low
Various scenes of children in dangerous situations.
Uncle Richie has a gambling problem.
Recommendation:
When I picked this book up, I didn’t realize it was part of a series. This novel is book #6 out of seven, to date. This was a fun story with humor (make sure and read the speaking bubbles in the artwork), adventure, and lots of historical information. The characters were engaging and fun and it was written so that children could feel like they are going on the adventure with the Kidd family.
James Patterson is a famous adult writer who has partnered with other authors under this “Jimmy” line of books. Many have been written by Chris Grabenstein, author of some of my favorite books like the Mr. Lemoncello series and Super Puzzletastic Mysteries. They also collaborated on Word of Mouse, a book I reviewed earlier this year. This would be a definite addition to my classroom library if I was still teaching, and a series I would recommend to any of my readers.
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