The El Dorado Adventure
Grade 5-9 The indomitable Vesper Holly returns in this sequel to The Illyrian Adventure (Dutton, 1986). This escapade begins when Vesper learns that she has inherited a large amount of land, including a volcano, in the wilds of Central America. She and her faithful guardian Brinnie journey to El Dorado to investigate, only to become involved in the struggle of a tribe of Indians to protect their homeland from unscrupulous developers who want to build a canal across the isthmus. As always, Brinnie naively accepts things at face value, while Vesper sees through to the truth. The charming Alain de Rochefort turns out to be a henchman of the evil Dr. Helvitius; the disreputable Captain O'Hara and his scurvy crew are staunch freedom fighters and become Vesper's loyal allies; and the savage chief of the Chiricas has been educated at Cambridge and has brought to his people such civilizing influences as the game of cricket. This book is even more enjoyable than the first; there is a light-hearted sense of fun entwined throughout the plot. There is also plenty of action and a number of cliff-hangers that create an episodic quality reminiscent of old Saturday matinee serials. All of the characters, even those who appear only briefly, are well fleshed-out, and there is a great deal of affection between Vesper and Brinnie. Susan Harding, Mesquite Public Lib . , Tex.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.