The Treasure of Mad Doc Magee: A Rip-Roaring Middle Grade Adventure About Legendary Gold and Riddles for Children (Ages 8-12) - Hardcover

Teele, Elinor

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062345133 ISBN 13: 9780062345134

Publisher: Walden Pond Press, 2018

Synopsis

A rip-roaring puzzle box of an adventure about grit, guts, and gold, from Elinor Teele, the acclaimed author of The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin.

The small, run-down town of Eden is the only place Jenny Burns has ever called home. The roots of the trees are in her bones, the air of the mountains is in her breath, the lakes and rivers are in her blood. And that’s why, when her father loses his job and tells Jenny that they may have to move on from Eden, she knows she can’t let that happen.

The fever of New Zealand’s gold rush still runs in the veins of Eden, and everyone knows the legend of Doc Magee: how he found the largest gold nugget anyone had ever seen and hid it somewhere in the hills before he disappeared.

Jenny and her best friend, Pandora, know that if they can find the gold, it’ll solve all their problems. But the way is fraught with mysteries, riddles, and danger—and those are just the threats they know about. Before her quest is over, Jenny will have to face challenges from within as well as from without.

To save her town, she’ll have to solve a puzzle bigger than she ever imagined.

• A Legendary Treasure Hunt: Jenny Burns must follow the trail of the eccentric Doc Magee and find his legendary hidden gold before her family is forced to leave Eden, the only home she’s ever known.
• A Brainy Best Friend Duo: With her relentlessly logical best friend Pandora by her side, Jenny must unravel a series of brain-twisting puzzles left behind by a mad genius.
• Riddles and Puzzles: Follow a series of cryptic clues hidden within a human skeleton, a book of anatomy, and the very mountains themselves.
• Rich Historical Setting: Step into the rugged world of the 1870s New Zealand gold rush, filled with eccentric characters, forgotten legends, and long-buried secrets.

About this title

About the Author

Elinor Teele is the author of The Treasure of Mad Dog Magee and The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin as well as a playwright who graduated with a PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2005. She lives with her family in New England. You can visit her online at www.elinorteele.com.

Reviews

Gr 4–6—Jenny, 12, loves the valley where she lives in 1870s New Zealand, even though it means dealing with the aftermath of the recent Central Otago gold rush. When she learns that her father has lost his latest job and that they will be forced to move from her beloved home, she is determined to find a way to stay. After talking things over with her best friend Pandora, she decides to track down the giant golden nugget that was rumored to have been hidden in the nearby hills by an eccentric miner named Mad Doc Magee. Jenny drags the clever but reluctant Pandora along, and they embark on a treasure hunt that takes them—and their friends Kam and Lok—on a Wild-West—style escapade, complete with ghost towns, treacherous mountain travel, and a devious schoolmaster. Along the way, Jenny learns quite a bit about friendship, loyalty, and how to stand up to prejudice. Peppered with colorful phrases and puzzles, this wild adventure will captivate readers from its humorous opening scene until its breathless climax involving a mountainside holdup and a surprising savior. VERDICT A good pick for collections where middle grade readers are clamoring for action-packed stories of daring deeds.—Sarah Reid, Four County Library System, NY

Edition details

• Publisher: Walden Pond Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062345133
• ISBN 13: 9780062345134
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352