I just want to preface this review by saying that I understand I am not the target audience for this book. I think middle school readers will really enjoy this book. It's filled with really fun comic book type illustrations. I found the story a little bit farfetched and unrealistic. But I really liked the relationship between the siblings and I liked the treasure hunting aspect of it. ( )

The Kidds are a family of treasure hunters. They live on a boat, traveling the world, recovering various kinds of items from shipwrecks. But after the separate but equally mysterious disappearances of both of their parents, the Kidd children are left on their own to deal with a band of pirates who want their treasure and local authorities who don't want them to be left on their own. Then some clues surface that point at evidence to what really happened to their parents, and the adventure really begins.

I'm a bit torn on this book. The overall story was fun and adventurous and ends with a promise of more of the same. The main cast consists of 4 kids: the oldest is Tommy, then Storm, and twins Bick and Beck (short for Bickford and Rebecca). Bick is the narrator of the book, and Beck draws the illustrations along the way. I had to borrow the ebook to be able to see the illustrations, and I liked them, even one part when they were drawn by a different character.

However, I wrote more notes while listening, of things I wanted to remember for later, than I have for any book I've ever read. Not all of these notes were of issues I had with the story. For example, there was a gang of pirates that were basically surfer dudes, and the way they were voiced by the narrator gave that part of the story a major 3 Ninjas vibe, which I quite enjoyed. The narrator did a good job of sounding like a 12-year-old boy most of the time, but sounding like older characters when needed, too. Now and then, he seemed to put the emphasis in the wrong place, but overall, I liked the narrator.

What most of my notes boil down to are things I didn't like about the way characters are presented or written. Tommy was probably my favorite of the Kidds. He's uncomplicated and smarter than he seems. Storm is a fairly stereotypical, way-too-smart-to-be-believable character, even to the point of being overweight and socially awkward. It seems a little too much like the author(s) enjoys shaming fat people, not just because of this character (and it had to be pretty deliberate to make her this way, since it's unlikely to me that someone living the way this family does would become so overweight), but because there are two other characters in the book that are described as ridiculously obese, and the narrator, who knows how much his sister hates to be teased about her weight, is not remotely kind in his descriptions of those characters.

Then we have Bick and Beck and their "twin tirades," which are quick argument "squalls." After a few of these, I realized that they're really just a way for them to discuss opposing views, but they start out already angry. They mostly feel forced, and frankly, their parents should have put a stop to them a long time ago, insisting instead that they find a calmer and more healthy way to communicate. Also, all three of the kids were far too cavalier about the perceived deaths of their parents. They moved on so fast, it was as if they weren't very attached to them.

This is the first of anything by James Patterson that I've read, but I have enjoyed books by Chris Grabenstein before. I'd really like to see where this story goes and hope that some of what I didn't like about this book will be lessened in the future, as the series continues.

Merged review:

The Kidds are a family of treasure hunters. They live on a boat, traveling the world, recovering various kinds of items from shipwrecks. But after the separate but equally mysterious disappearances of both of their parents, the Kidd children are left on their own to deal with a band of pirates who want their treasure and local authorities who don't want them to be left on their own. Then some clues surface that point at evidence to what really happened to their parents, and the adventure really begins.

I'm a bit torn on this book. The overall story was fun and adventurous and ends with a promise of more of the same. The main cast consists of 4 kids: the oldest is Tommy, then Storm, and twins Bick and Beck (short for Bickford and Rebecca). Bick is the narrator of the book, and Beck draws the illustrations along the way. I had to borrow the ebook to be able to see the illustrations, and I liked them, even one part when they were drawn by a different character.

However, I wrote more notes while listening, of things I wanted to remember for later, than I have for any book I've ever read. Not all of these notes were of issues I had with the story. For example, there was a gang of pirates that were basically surfer dudes, and the way they were voiced by the narrator gave that part of the story a major 3 Ninjas vibe, which I quite enjoyed. The narrator did a good job of sounding like a 12-year-old boy most of the time, but sounding like older characters when needed, too. Now and then, he seemed to put the emphasis in the wrong place, but overall, I liked the narrator.

What most of my notes boil down to are things I didn't like about the way characters are presented or written. Tommy was probably my favorite of the Kidds. He's uncomplicated and smarter than he seems. Storm is a fairly stereotypical, way-too-smart-to-be-believable character, even to the point of being overweight and socially awkward. It seems a little too much like the author(s) enjoys shaming fat people, not just because of this character (and it had to be pretty deliberate to make her this way, since it's unlikely to me that someone living the way this family does would become so overweight), but because there are two other characters in the book that are described as ridiculously obese, and the narrator, who knows how much his sister hates to be teased about her weight, is not remotely kind in his descriptions of those characters.

Then we have Bick and Beck and their "twin tirades," which are quick argument "squalls." After a few of these, I realized that they're really just a way for them to discuss opposing views, but they start out already angry. They mostly feel forced, and frankly, their parents should have put a stop to them a long time ago, insisting instead that they find a calmer and more healthy way to communicate. Also, all three of the kids were far too cavalier about the perceived deaths of their parents. They moved on so fast, it was as if they weren't very attached to them.

This is the first of anything by James Patterson that I've read, but I have enjoyed books by Chris Grabenstein before. I'd really like to see where this story goes and hope that some of what I didn't like about this book will be lessened in the future, as the series continues. ( )

awesome book ( )

This is an excellent book to engage reluctant readers. There are enough pictures to keep students from being overwhelmed with the text and the story moves along nicely. It is written from the perspective of Bick Kidd, who along with his twin sister Beck and their siblings Storm and Tommy, live on a boat called The Lost and work together to find their missing parents and search for sunken treasure. It is action packed with pirates, bad guys, and shark infested waters. It is written in very informal language which helps students relate the story line and makes it easier to comprehend. ( )

Very disappointed in the "fat shaming" in this book. Way too much of it. Calling one of the sisters "Chubba-Wubba", "Shamu", and "the fat chick" really felt like the wrong type of dialogue for a children's book. Especially the age of the children that this books seems marketed too. Pretty offensive.

And those “Twin Tirades” were very annoying! Really, most of the book is annoying. I get that it would be cool for four kids to be on their own on a treasure hunting ship, but this was so unbelievable and non-sensical, that it felt like a dumbing down of every kid's adventure book every written.

I will say, this is definitely geared to Patterson fans, as the chapters are extremely short, and simply written. 70 chapters? I guess he has to get this fan base ready for his "adult" co-works.

p.s. - I know this is a children's book, but it could easily be used for a drinking game! The author(s) use the name of "The Room" more often than the "f" word is used in the movie "Midnight Run"! If you drink when you see those words, well, you ain't making it very far in these pages! ( )