I reread these four books more than any others as a kid. I hadn't seen the Indiana Jones movies yet, so I didn't catch the plot elements borrowed from them. I was enthralled by the archaeological dig locations, the mysterious secondary characters, the coolness of fourteen-year-old Jay and thirteen-year-old Lila as they traveled with their dad and survived all sorts of peril (let's see ... snakes, scorpions, a scary old soothsayer, an earthquake, oh, and don't forget the legions of demons from the Bottomless Pit ... and that's just the first book).

One of the things that appealed to me most was the fact that Jay and Lila are the only teen characters in the series. They inhabit the world of adults, are given adult responsibilities, and with all the life-or-death stuff going on, they don't have time to be headstrong and annoying (granted my kid-reader perception was a bit outside the norm).

As I look back, the best of these books is probably the fourth, Trapped at the Bottom of the Sea. I loved Meaghan Flaherty (and when the next four were released, a few years after I had outgrown the series, I read them anyway in the hopes of meeting her again; alas, she is never even mentioned). Craft-wise, the best thing about this book is the new layer peeled away of family struggle for the heretofore flawless Coopers. The loss of Jay and Lila's mother (backstory from before Book 1) is dealt with at last, and we learn that Dr. Cooper hasn't always dealt well with his grief, that his kids have sometimes felt alienated from him because of this. This character arc affected me as an aspiring writer of twelve years old, revealing the craft truth that characters with flaws and inner struggle are always more compelling than characters without them.

My boxed set is battered from many a vacation trip, and I will treasure always the grand adventures and the stalwart faith of the Cooper family. ( )