Review: Wonderful Book!!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 4, 2012
PDF free for honest reviewWhen boys fish they do tend to be competitive, especially with their older brothers and Pa, but Spud may regret that decision to fish away from them so he could show them all up by catching more and bigger fish.  Spud is only eleven years old and his family just had quite the stroke of bad luck and lost their farm and home, so they are on the way to his Ma's family home to live for awhile until they get back on their own feet.  On the way his Pa decides to stop and fish at a small pond he saw when he was moving some of the family's belongings earlier in the week.  When they set up Spud goes off on his own where he can out fish his brothers and Pa.  He is so caught up in catching fish, he loses track of time and never hears his Pa call that it's time to go.  When he sees how late it is he takes a "short cut" to get back to the road and his family, only to find out it was not a short cut at all, but a way that gets him very lost in the swamp.  He calls and calls for his family, but figures that they must have moved on without him, if they even noticed he was gone.  When you are part of a big family it's bound to happen that someone will be forgotten some time.  Spud does okay for being just a boy and soon is fending for himself in the swamp while looking for the main road or people.  He catches rabbits and fish for food and starts fires to cook them over.  He also knows what berries and leaves are good to eat and which are not, so he eats those too.  Nothing is like home cooking, but at least he will not starve.  As he is surviving he finally hears boys on a near by river, but soon finds out they are not such nice boys, so he leaves them, but not before hearing them talk about Indian Gold that is hidden on some island that they have been looking for, for years.  Spud decides seeing he has nothing better to do he will take up the search for this Indian Gold Island too.  In his hunt he comes across the boy's family home.  Spud wants to make himself known, but he was mean to the boys and figures if the family would help him the boys would make it hard for him, so he stays away.  However, he does eventually befriend the boys two sisters.  Together Spud, Laura and Suzy take up the hunt for the Indian Gold in hopes of finding it and they are on the right track too, but so are the bully brothers.  Can Spud and the girls find the hidden treasure?  Will Spud ever get back to his family and civilized life, not in the swamps?  Can they outsmart the boys hot on their trail?  How much trouble is this Indian Gold worth?This was a good read overall, but was a bit drawn out at times as far as the hunt for the gold was concerned.  I found it interesting to see how Spud got lost from his family and how he was set on surviving with the skills he learned from his Pa and brothers at home.  He was quite the little survivor!  Spud never lost his cool so to speak and was always just doing what he had to, to survive until he could find a way back out of the swamp or find other people to help him.  The characters of Laura and Suzy were cute too.  Little girls interested in this "wild boy" and his stories, but not quite sure of him at the same time.  I love the bond they all gain as time goes on and how they help him.  The adventure was definitely there in this book, from Spud surviving on his own to the hunt for the Indian Gold that is said to exist on some island somewhere.  The plot was well written and had action, adventure, and friendship.  The characters were great and very well developed and easy to come to like or dislike, depending on the character.  I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to others for a young adult mystery or middle grade mystery.  I think all ages would enjoy the story.4/5 Stars!