October 3, 2023 by Quill Tree Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Zane and his mother live in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, where his mother has been running a boarding house after the death of his father, hoping to earn enough to be able to keep their house and not sell it to developers. One of their boarders, Captain Maddie, is rather eccentric and behind on her rent, but gets along well with Zane and amuses him. In his spare time Zane likes to hang out with his friends Kiko and Jack at the local skatepark, but after he has a bad encounter with a white haired, evil skater named Rattler, things go badly wrong. Someone has broken into Captain Maddie's room, and she has a fatal health incident. She's usually a bit vague and not necessarily dealing in reality, but she continues to tell Zane that he is her first mate and needs to find the treasure right up to her last moments. Zane is devastated that she is gone, but knows that his family needs the money, so why not look for the treasure. After thwarting Rattler and his gang of skateboarding "pirates" at night, and with a map they foudn hidden in a hollow cane, Zane, Jack, and Kiko take off to Manhattan, where the fragile, old map seems to be pointing. There are clues, but it is all very mysterious. Jack, whose long distance trucker father frequently beats him, and Zane have never been to Manhattan before, so they are interested in the history that the map is pointing them toward. They seem Rattler's minions around, and try to escape them. They do some research at the New Amsterdam branch library, and also come across a shadowy figure, John, who seems to know too much about them but claims he wants to help. He takes them out of his oyster skiff, but there is an accident and Zane, as well as his beloved dog Hip-Hop that the group has brought along, are injured. With the help of the internet, Kiko finds some clues to some of the history in the area, including the site of New York's Municipal Slave Market, and they all learn some things they didn't know. John shows them the site of Thomas Downing's oyster restaurant, and the group unearths a treasure chest in the basement before being chased out. Zane and the others occasionally have visions of the past, and there are other elements of this book that places it in the realm of fantasy. Kiko doesn't trust John, although Zane and Jack are missing father figures so much that they are willing to put their faith in him. The map seems to lead them into the subway system, and they learn that many buildings in the early 1900s were built on top of the Negro Burial Ground. The treasure might be there, but will they need to blow up areas from the subway? It seems dangerous, and when Rattler and his henchchildren show up, things get desperate. Zane realizes that people he had counted on aren't on his side. Will he be able to escape and get home, or will he have to walk the plank to his doom?
Strengths: I loved Rhodes' note about how excited she was to add the different elements to this book. Adventure, skateboarding, black history, and a reimagining of a title that is NOT Jane Austen or Shakespeare! Nicely done. Zane is an interesting character, and while I kept screaming internally (along with Kiko!) that he shouldn't trust John, I knew why he and Jack were relying on him. The connections to Black history, especially the information about the slave markets, the statistics about slave ownership, and the details about the Underground Railroad in the area was all fascinating stuff. Hip-Hop was a good boy, although I also thought it was a bad idea to bring him to the city. Did Jim Hawkins have a dog? And why is Zane not named Jim? I do think that this book might well encourage young readers to pick up Stevenson's book. While Treasure Island impressed me as one of the few Classics that hold up for modern readers, my library copy smelled so bad that I got rid of it! There's a lot going on in this book, but Rhodes foray into writing adventure stories is definitely a successful one.
Weaknesses: I doubt that any of my students are familiar with Treasure Island. I felt like I should read the book again to understand the parallels in the plot of this one. Some of the elements, like Captain Maddie, didn't quite make as much sense as I wanted them to, and I felt that if I was more familiar with the Stevenson version, things would be clearer.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want to learn more about Black history in New York City and enjoyed Watson's Some Places More Than Others or Cummings' Trace. I'd love to list other skateboarding books, but... there aren't any that use the skateboarding so well. Rhodes did a fantastic job on that; there are even illustrations at the end of the book that show some skateboarding tips!
Strengths: I loved Rhodes' note about how excited she was to add the different elements to this book. Adventure, skateboarding, black history, and a reimagining of a title that is NOT Jane Austen or Shakespeare! Nicely done. Zane is an interesting character, and while I kept screaming internally (along with Kiko!) that he shouldn't trust John, I knew why he and Jack were relying on him. The connections to Black history, especially the information about the slave markets, the statistics about slave ownership, and the details about the Underground Railroad in the area was all fascinating stuff. Hip-Hop was a good boy, although I also thought it was a bad idea to bring him to the city. Did Jim Hawkins have a dog? And why is Zane not named Jim? I do think that this book might well encourage young readers to pick up Stevenson's book. While Treasure Island impressed me as one of the few Classics that hold up for modern readers, my library copy smelled so bad that I got rid of it! There's a lot going on in this book, but Rhodes foray into writing adventure stories is definitely a successful one.
Weaknesses: I doubt that any of my students are familiar with Treasure Island. I felt like I should read the book again to understand the parallels in the plot of this one. Some of the elements, like Captain Maddie, didn't quite make as much sense as I wanted them to, and I felt that if I was more familiar with the Stevenson version, things would be clearer.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want to learn more about Black history in New York City and enjoyed Watson's Some Places More Than Others or Cummings' Trace. I'd love to list other skateboarding books, but... there aren't any that use the skateboarding so well. Rhodes did a fantastic job on that; there are even illustrations at the end of the book that show some skateboarding tips!
Also, Rockaway Beach sounds like a horrible, horrible place to live. I don't want to live near ANYWHERE that is so close to the water. One big storm, and Zane's mother is going to lose the house anyway! I'd sell to the developer and move somewhere far, far inland. I used to think that the Florida Keys were the worst place to live, but looking at New York City, I'm amazed that there hasn't been a lot more storm devastation there!
Thanks for telling me about this. I really want to read it! I'm a HUGE fan of the original Treasure Island and I reread it earlier this year when our boys book club read it. I call it the best pirate story ever written and think it still holds up, although our boys were not as enthusiastic. And no, Jim Hawkins did not have a dog--nor would he have taken it way across the sea!
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