From School Library Journal
Grade 4–8—Mike, 13, reluctantly boards a plane from California to Florida to spend the summer with his divorced father, who is a marine biologist. He is told after he lands that they will not be in Pensacola but on Shipwreck Island off the coast of Alabama. He feels stranded and neglected, thinking that the weeks will drag with little to keep him occupied. After a slow beginning, Mike's summer of 1973 becomes more and more exciting when he and a new friend make an unexpected discovery at an old Civil War fort. The boys are just beginning to unravel the mystery surrounding their find when a hurricane threatens and they discover that thieves are after their treasure. Mike's narrative moves quickly with likable and believable characters. The story will have particular appeal to readers with an interest in historical places and artifacts.—
Denise Moore, O'Gorman Junior High School, Sioux Falls, SD Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
When Mike’s biologist father takes a job teaching at a marine lab on an island off the Alabama coast, the 13-year-old has no idea he’s about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. But then he and a new friend, nosing around an old Civil War fort, find something that promises to change their lives—if they survive their find, that is, and the ensuing search for answers to a puzzling and dangerous mystery. For not only are other antagonistic searchers involved but a class 4 hurricane is also headed directly for the island. Batten down the hatches! Collard’s engaging story, set in 1973, offers a diverting, page-turning mystery with some nicely integrated bits of Southern history. As for Mike and his friend Kyle, they’re well-realized teen characters; and though Collard leaves some loose ends dangling, his plot has enough twists and turns to hold readers’ attention to the end. Grades 5-8. --Michael Cart
