Grabenstein, Chris and Patterson, James. Treasure Hunters.16 September 2013, Little, Brown and Company
The Kidd family has traveled all over the world hunting down treasures on their boat, The Lost. While still reeling from the disappearance of their mother in Egypt, the Kidd children (hunky Tommy, overweight and geeky Storm, and twins Bick and Beck) survive a storm at sea only to find their father has been washed ashore. Trying to follow their fathers clues as to how to proceed, they head off (with some help) to the Cayman Islands to trade with Louie, who is somewhat suspect. They pick up a Malia bee, and head off again. Eventually, their father's friend, Uncle Timothy, catches up with them and wants to take care of them, but all of the children are determined to figure out what their father was up to, find their mother, and earn enough money that they can keep hunting treasure. Their searches take them all over and result in chases from surfer dudes, encounters with weird art gallery owners, and a stand off with criminal elements. All of this is illustrated by Juliana Neufeld.
Strengths: Patterson's other notebook novels are very popular, and it's possible that this will be advertised heavily. It is not without its charm.
Weaknesses: Most notebook novels are realistic and not quite this long. I'm just unsure about the audience for this one and may wait to purchase to see if any of the students ask for it.
Yeah, I kind of saw this one as an upper elementary rather than a middle grade book, anyway. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either.
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