“The Treasure of Savage Island,” by Lenore Hart

“The Treasure of Savage Island,” by Lenore Hart is an adventure story that includes a runaway slave, pirates and buried treasure.

Molly Savage lives with her father in an inn that the Savage family used to own. But her father gambled it away and now it is owned by a cruel woman who works Molly and her father like servants. Rafe is a young boy who ran away from the plantation where he was a slave. For Rafe staying hidden is a necessity, because if he is discovered slave catchers will take him right back to his former life. When Molly discovers Rafe she decides to keep help hide and feed him.

Molly and Rafe will have to work together when looting pirates attack. They're after a legendary treasure supposedly hidden near the inn where Molly and her father now live. Can Molly and Rafe survive the pirate attack, or perhaps even better, find the treasure for themselves?

“The Treasure of Savage Island” isn't exactly a masterpiece of writing. The combination of pirate themes and an escaped slave is unique but the storyline is lacking a certain amount of believability. Most of the characters are slightly cliché, and their interactions are almost routine. To summarize “The Treasure of Savage Island” is an average book, but it lacks that special zest that I like to see in the books I read.

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“Danny, The Champion of the World,” by Roald Dahl

“Danny, The Champion of the World,” by Roald Dahl is a novel about a young boy who lives with his mechanic father in a gypsy caravan.

Danny has always enjoyed his life. Not only does Danny live in a fascinating gypsy caravan, but his father has taught him to work on automobiles. But one day, Danny discovers a surprising secret about his father, something that he has kept hidden for years.

Danny's father loves to poach pheasants. As Danny comes to learn more about the illegal art of poaching he discovers that just about everyone he knows likes to poach, even otherwise upstanding citizens such as the doctor that makes house calls on Danny and his father, the local reverend, and the policeman that Danny has been frightened of for years. All these people have one thing in common, they steal pheasants at Hazell's Woods, a forest owned by Mr. Victor Hazell, a local rich brewery owner, and owner of a huge flock of game birds.

No one likes Mr. Hazell, and they all want to do something to put him in his place, even if it means stealing from him. That's when Danny comes up with the ultimate plan. If they can just pull it off correctly, then Danny and his father should be able to steal every last one of Mr. Hazell's pheasants.

To be honest, I found “Danny, The Champion of the World” to be a surprisingly disappointing book. Roald Dahl's other books typically teach good lessons, though they sometimes have satirical aspects to them. In “Danny, The Champion of the World,” however, Dahl glorifies poaching, which is really nothing more than stealing. Perhaps everyone that Danny knows is a poacher, even the local policeman and reverend, and Mr. Victor Hazell may not be a very nice man, but that still doesn't make stealing from him right.

“Danny, The Champion of the World” shows no consequences of stealing. In the end Danny and his father get away with it completely, and I find that very disturbing. As a consequence I would not recommend this book.


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“The Ice Cream Con,” by Jimmy Docherty

“The Ice Cream Con,” by Jimmy Docherty is the story of a boy who decides to do something about the crime in his neighborhood.

When Jake gets mugged and loses all of his grandmother's food money for the week, he decides that he needs to do something about that crime that is running rampant in his housing project. Jake and his friends invent an imaginary gangster that they name Big Baresi. By starting rumors and placing stickers that say “I'm watching you. - Baresi” Jake and his friends manage to convince others that this crook is real. Soon though, the situation snowballs out of control when two local gangs enter the scene and a stash of stolen diamonds surfaces. Will Jake be able to keep up the deception of will he end up in trouble for the crimes of an imaginary crook?

“The Ice Cream Con” is a simply ridiculous book. Jimmy Docherty was obviously aiming for humor with this junior read but the result is just foolish. The escapades of Jake and his friends are terribly over played and completely unbelievable. In the end “The Ice Cream Con” comes across as idealizing a life of crime. I would not recommend this book to any reader.

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