Treasure Hunters by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

Fans of James Patterson's Middle School, iFunny, and House of Robots series will welcome the addition of his Treasure Hunters series to our library!  In this first volume readers are introduced to the treasure-hunting Kidd family, which is made up of Professor Tom Kidd (world famous oceanographer), Mom, Tommy, Storm, and twins Bick and Beck. Each kid in the Kidd family contributes to the family business in his/her own unique way. Tommy, the oldest, is valued for his physical strength and experience sailing the family ship. Storm has a photographic memory. Beck is the artist who not only illustrates the tale but also lends her expertise when it comes to finding valuable works of art. Finally, Bick is excellent at words, which is a skill that always comes in handy, and results in him serving as the story's narrator.

As the story begins a raging storm at sea leads to the disappearance and supposed death of the children's dad. Readers learn that Mom went missing 3 months earlier in a treasure hunt trade gone bad in Cyprus. This leaves the Kidd kids on their own to carry on the family's treasure hunting business--sailing around the world, searching for valuable artifacts, and being chased by bad guys.

Don't let the size of the book scare you. It is long (451 pages with 70 chapters), but the chapters are very short and are filled with illustrations. In addition, the story is packed with nonstop action and adventure. Treasure Hunters is part of James Patterson's Jimmy books, "books written to be so good that when you're finished, you'll say 'PLEASE GIVE ME ANOTHER BOOK!'" I recommend this series to 3rd-5th graders who enjoy the action/adventure genre and are looking to start a new series.

Mrs. N.