Treasure Hunters isn’t my thing. In the beginning, I objected mainly to the overly simple characters and wham! bam! high action/low substance plotting, but as the book continued, my feelings got a bit complicated. I wanted to like it. I think kids will really go for the action packed style and the frequent fun illustrations. There are female characters who are intelligent, well-loved (in the familial sense, not the romantic sense) and respected by their family. BUT. There are so many guns. I mean, not just a few guns, or some guns, but really, a wealth, a surfeit, an abundance of guns. And it makes me a bit uncomfortable, especially given the casual carefree nature of the story. And then again, as much as there were these intelligent female characters, well on at least one occasion, they were asked to stick together (and stay out of the way) while the male characters handled the bad guys. And one of them is larger than your standard sized female (or your standard sized fictional female anyway). Oh I liked that initially. It can be difficult to find books with characters that are anything other than thin and attractive. And this character was smart too. And her father called her beautiful! But later she referred to herself as a bloated blob. And then someone else called her Chubba-Wubba. And referred to her as hugantic (huge+gigantic, get it?) and fat chick AND Shamu the whale. The worst part might be that her brothers and sister don’t defend her, although there is an aside that the narrator doesn’t think she likes being called Shamu or Chubba-Wubba. What a huge disappointment. It just perpetuates that idea that it is normal or even acceptable to criticize people for their weight.
So despite being fast paced and likely a page turner, full of ninjas and spies and surfer dies and bodyguards with allergies, I just can’t get behind the weak writing – Oops. Did I forget to mention that I wasn’t all that impressed with Patterson et. al’s writing? Despite being chock full of similes, they are the kind of similes I’m always telling my students not to use. Ones that don’t make sense or have any connection to what is going on in the story.
Age Recommendation – This will probably go over best with third and fourth graders although it might work for older readers who are not reading on grade level. It’s nice and thick (in part thanks to all those pictures) so I know some kids will love the feeling of reading a book they perceive to be hard (based on length alone). Again, can’t say I love it with the guns and the fat bashing, but I’m guessing there are lots of kids who will, some of whom would be reading something I find far more objectionable if they weren’t reading this.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Bick’s big brother Tommy is a “hunk” and is shown muscled and shirtless. A girl is drawn wearing a bikini top. She flirts with Tommy. In an illustration, a couple (who may resemble Jay-Z and Beyonce just a teensy-tinsy bit) share a milkshake while tiny hearts float over their heads. Tommy admires girls’ bathing suits. A girl is illustrated wearing a string bikini, some of her cleavage is visible. A boy and a girl date and there’s a joke about wedding invitations. Tommy notices that there are naked women in art works and says he should visit museums more often. He refers to one of the pieces of art as a “hottie.” Tommy suggests studying anatomy together to a pretty pre-med. Scantily clad girls appear in the illustrations. A girl kicks Tommy in the most painful place you can kick a boy. They look in a window and declare a woman needs either drapes or a bathrobe. There’s another kneeing “where it really, really hurt”.
Profanity – “heck,” “shoot,” “crapper,” “holy smokes,” “lame” which I really don’t love as an insult or adjective. “moronic,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Bick’s mother may have been shot by an Uzi submachine gun (which is a bit highly specific in the naming of guns if you ask me). In treasure hunting the family found a dagger. The kids have a funeral for their missing parents. The boat is equipped with torpedo tubes. A speargun is pointed at someone. A man carries an AK-47. One of the children aims a double-barrelled shot gun at a teenager. A fleet of ships sank (but really, this is in no way scary for readers as it happened in the past). A policeman is drawn with a gun in his holster. There’s talk of chasing fish with spearguns. A character carries a machine gun and wears bandoliers full of ammunition on his chest. This is both written and illustrated. The gun is fired (into the air). An illustration shows two pictures of a woman with a handgun and one picture of a woman knocking someone out with a kick. Another two illustrations show a man with a handgun. An empty boat is blown up. Ninjas arrived armed with weapons. Tommy heads for a shotgun. There are two special underwater AK-47s. People are armed with knives and spearguns, which is shown in an illustration as well. A spear pierces someone’s arm and shoulder. That person bleeds a lot in the water. A man travels with armed body guards. The guards point pistols at one of the kids. This is also shown in an illustration. A man threatens to kill the Kidds if he ever meets them again. A girl chases them with a sacrificial dagger. Another illustrations shows yet more men with guns. An arms dealer is mentioned. A man says his father fell off a boat and died (he was wearing cement shoes at the time – a mafia reference in case you didn’t know). A man has a pistol shaped bulge in his coat. A man aims a gun at the children (this is also shown in an illustration) and threatens them. Six men wielding guns point them at one of the kids (again, shown in the illustration as well). Guns are fired. One of the kids is used a as a human shield. The kids karate chop people injuring them and even breaking some bones.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A lady “smoked a lot.” An ashtray is filled with cigar butts.
Frightening or Intense Things – During a storm, Bick fears for his life. After a storm, Bick can’t find any of his family members. Bick’s mom has disappeared. There’s good cause to believe Bick’s father is dead either drowned or eaten by sharks. This is discussed rather casually. There are threats made that the children will have to be taken to an orphanage. A girl is kidnapped.
Gross Out A label states “DO NOT POOP on the POOP DECK”, there’s a potty training seat that they refer to as a “toity,”
