by J Scott Savage (Author)
A young treasure hunter must decipher clues, solve puzzles, and search his school for a long-lost chest filled with decades of confiscated toys.
Ordinary Elementary is anything but ordinary. Below the classrooms are winding, abandoned, underground passages filled with lost treasures. Fifth-grader Graysen Foxx, aka The Gray Fox--finder of secrets, solver of mysteries, and explorer of the unknown--is hot on the trail of the legendary treasure of long-since-retired Principal Redbeard, which includes a decades' worth of confiscated gadgets, rare comic books, first-edition Pokemon trading cards, an original Rubik's Cube, and a retro football handheld video game.
Graysen is determined to find the treasure and share it with his fellow students. His nemesis, Raven Ransom--a fifth-grade girl nicknamed "The Red Raven"--plans to stop him and claim the prizes for herself, just like she did with the game-winning home run kickball everyone thought was lost on the roof of the school.
Wearing his adventurer-iconic fedora, journaling in his field notebook, and wielding his elastic stretchy hand, Graysen is ready for action. But can he avoid the second-grade spy network working for Raven? Could the third-grade twins, Maya and Jack, give him an advantage? Can he avoid the ruthless sixth graders while trying to protect the innocent first graders? And who is the mysterious Midnight Moth who is leaving cryptic notes and riddles?
It's a battle between courage and cunning, smarts and shrewdness, charity and cheating. With the treasure on the line, can Graysen trust his rival--or is it just another one of her traps? May the best treasure hunter win!
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Gr 3-5--Treasure seeker Graysen Foxx is on the cusp of his greatest find: a laminated hall pass that will provide students in need with unlimited access to their elementary school. When his plan is foiled by his archnemesis the Red Raven, Graysen is stuck in detention. With gentle prodding from his classroom teacher and detention warden, he stumbles on to the discovery of the ages, that the fabled treasure of Principal Redbeard is real! With the help of two resourceful third grade assistants and an army of first grade soldiers, Graysen dodges a wily sixth grade mafia boss, the cranky janitorial cat, and a sneaky group of second grade spies as he tracks down the greatest fortune of all. With an overemphasis on heavy-handed social-emotional lessons and underdeveloped characters, this high-octane adventure falls flat. Stilted and unnatural dialogue makes the characters feel more like plot and theme devices instead of relatable, authentic individuals. Riddled with awkward similes, such as "the school clocks were as unreliable as a potty-training three-year-old," and a storyline that is too far-fetched to be believable, this plot-heavy adventure will find a limited readership. VERDICT Not recommended for purchase.--Louie Lauer
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