Jo Ann Yhard

This is a wonderful, fast-paced mystery in the style of Nancy Drew (for those of you who read those), The Hardy Boys (if you're a boy), and most importantly, the awesome mystery chapter books of the 1980s (if you're me!)

Grace is a wonderful character - snarky, fearless but secretly very soft-hearted, especially about her father, whose disappearance (and presumed death) sets the story in motion.

She is backed up by a wonderful gang consisting of accident-prone Fred, extremely organize Mai, and the mysterious (and cute!) Jeeter, the new kid at school.

And on top of all this fabulousness, its setting (Cape Breton, Nova Scotia) adds to the atmosphere, as the kids go hunting for cool fossils while evading opportunistic environmental pirates.

This is a perfect book for all ages!… (más)

An action-packed treasure hunt in historic Louisburg where the British and the French fought for control of Cape Breton Island, a prime harbour and cod fishery in Nova Scotia, Canada in the 1770s. At that time, it was a part of New France. Young Fred has discovered some old papers from his great-great-great grandfather's journal documenting a story of surviving a shipwreck and a map to a treasure he has buried. This is like a godsend to Fred with his family in dire straits and his mother ill with cancer. If he can only find the treasure. The map is very clear, but sits in a federal heritage site. He and his friends go to an open house at the Fortress at Louisbourg, the biggest reconstructed site in North America. The public is allowed to do some archaeological digging, but unfortunately not in the area where Fred's three-times great grandfather buried his treasure. From the first moment an overzealous re-enactment soldier finds them digging to the end of the book, the teens are on a thrill-ride of trying to avoid detection by the assortment of villains who are after them.

With his mother working in the restaurant despite her illness, his father seeming to act in a clandestine manner with one of the men watching their every move, and so many eyes watching them, the young people are on high alert...yet, three of them only know a very small part of the story. Having actually found the box wth the treasure, the problem is to keep it safe until they can take it home. But are they committing a crime, taking something from a federal heritage site even with the documents? Mai thinks they are and is terrified something bad is going to happen. Jo Ann Yhard makes the adventure exciting with this well-written book. History, mystery, action and adventure all rolled into one. With a cat and mouse chase on a replicated 1770s sailing ship at sea, Fred and his friends must escape the villains, but how? All other passengers left the ship in the only launches. Exciting fare aimed at young to mid-teens, but others would enjoy it, too. I look forward to reading other books by Jo Ann Yhard.… (más)

Spending the summer on a beautiful island with her loving, free-spirited aunt isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be for young Alex – guilt-ridden and mourning, her parents’ relationship crumbling, she’s got a lot on her mind. Full of sorrow and anger, Alex initially rejects the care and concern of her aunt’s friends, Gus and Eva (and Gus’ niece, Rachel) and refuses to come out of her shell. But the island and the ocean surrounding it is spellbinding, full of wonder and whales, and Alex becomes particularly interested in the movements of a baby whale she names Daredevil.
Please see the rest of my review on The Door is Ajar, http://shernor2.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/lost-on-brier-island/!… (más)