Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure

Gr 6–8—Hannah and Huber Hill are twins. She makes straight A's and is a model daughter. He rarely does anything to earn his divorcing parents' praise and is picked on mercilessly by the school bully. His solace has always been his Grandpa Nick, so when he dies, the boy feels absolutely alone. Readers will appreciate Huber's maturity in eventually making amends with the bully, and, in fact, the two boys decide to find the Spanish treasure that Huber's grandfather has told him stories about. It has always been rumored that it is in an old coal mine, and the boys plan to trick their parents so they can seek the elusive cache. Hannah forces Huber to take her along, and a romance blossoms between her and Scott. They meet a Native American who warns them of the curse of the old mine, and a sinister Spanish man secretly follows them up the mountain. The author does a fine job of illustrating the effects of a broken family without being too heavy-handed. There are interesting symbolic characters such as a mysterious cougar that protects the children from the evil stranger and the ghost of Grandpa Nick, who turns up just as Huber is about to succumb to the pull of the cursed mine. The cliff-hanger ending clearly indicates a sequel. Hand this one to fans of the movies Goonies or Indiana Jones. They won't be able to put it down.—Julie Shatterly, W.A. Bess Elementary School, Gastonia, NC