Book Review: ISLE OF EVER by Jen Calonita

 

 

 I recently read an interesting and engaging middle grade book from author JEN CALONITA.  ISLE OF EVER is the first book in a new series about a lost island, time travel, treasure, riddles, mystery. In other words, it's a book that has it all and will likely appeal to the middle grade population.

 Two hundred years ago, an island disappeared. Benny has just two weeks to find it.

Everly "Benny" Benedict and her mom have always managed to get by, though they're broke most of the time. But all that could change. Benny's just learned she's the sole heir to the vast fortune of Evelyn Terry, a mysterious ancestor from the 1800s!

There's a catch, though. First Benny needs to play―and win―a game: following clues that are more than a century old, she must find her way to the tiny island Evelyn wrote about in her diary. It was somewhere off the shoreline of Evelyn's home town, but according to legend, it vanished long ago and hasn't appeared on maps for hundreds of years. Yet Benny has only a couple weeks to locate it.

If she's successful, she'll collect the inheritance. But what if there's more than a fortune at stake in this game? What if Benny has to break an ancient curse to win?

 Here's my review:

ISLE OF EVER by Jen Calonita

This engaging and riveting book has it all. History, adventure, mystery, puzzles, a hint of danger, a mysterious mansion, and a buried treasure. Also an island that seems to only appear every 200 years! If Benny can solve the clues left by an ancient ancestor, she will inherit a fortune and save her and her mom from poverty. All the riches left by great great  great great grandma Evelyn will be hers. If she can solve the riddles in 13 days. This is the first book in a new series that kids are going to love. 

 

Darlene Beck Jacobson loves a good adventure, especially when it involves history, puzzles, and a bit of mystery. She imagines and writes her own adventures in NJ.