Kaleidoscope Eyes
The summer of 1968 provides a fertile backdrop for Bryant’s verse novel about Lyza, her friends, and their hunt for Captain Kidd’s lost treasure in a New Jersey neighborhood. While cleaning out her recently deceased, thrill-seeking grandfather’s house, Lyza finds a plain envelope with her name on it. Inside are maps and vague clues about one last adventure that he saved for her. Lyza enlists her friends Malcolm and Carolann, “a tall, shy black guy and a small, hyperactive white girl,” swearing them to secrecy. Their sneaking around leads to a grounding, which leads to more sneaking around. For a story involving pirate treasure, it takes awhile to pick up speed. The poetry format doesn’t always seem purposeful, and the ending is implausible. However, the characters are endearing and the setting is vivid. The events of the small town filter into the teens’ lives in realistic ways: Malcolm’s older brother is drafted, Lyza’s older sister is a hippie, and boys they know are killed in the war or come home changed forever. Grades 5-7. --Heather Booth--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.