The Last Treasure

Rating:
Summary: At Last the Third is Fond
Review: This book is featured on the Texas Bluebonnet Reading list for 2005-2006. Like "Chasing Vermeer," the book is about a puzzle that must be solved, in this case there is a treasure to be found.

Thirteen year old Ellsworth lives a nomad life with his father and his fish, Hugo. He receives a birthday card from "some kind of cousin" named Elizabeth who invites him to visit for the summer. All that he knows about his father's family is that his dad does not want anything to do with them. Never the less, he is intrigued by her reference to the puzzle of the "last" treasure and despite his father's misgivings leaves for the Square in Smith Mills, NY.

As Ellsworth gets to know more about his family he also learns more about his parents and especially his mother. With a distant girl cousin his age named Jess he tries to solve the puzzle of the last treasure house. My favorite part of the story is where Ellsworth and Jess read the journal of their great grand-relative and get to know him by hearing his story in his own words.

I did enjoy the story but I was overwhelmed by the number of names and relationships. There is a family tree and a map of the Square in the front of the book; I should have referred to it more often.

An interesting read. It is interesting for kids to think about family histories, genealogy and even recording their own family stories.

Rating:
Summary: The best treasure
Review: This book is good but some parts are hard to understand because it is poetry. The poetry is the clue to the mystery of the last treasure house. If you read the clues over you will understand what they mean. It is so good, I would probably read it again. I recommend this book for most ages.

This book is about two kids who are fifth cousins named Jess and Ellsworth. Ellsworth and father, Ben Robert, live and help manage a hotel. On Ellsworth's birthday, he is invited to Smiths Mills, New York where his whole family lives. At first, Ben Robert doesn't want him to go but he knows it is necessary. As little as, they know there is treasure waiting to be found. The treasure is in a house which was built by Ellsworth's great great grandfather. This house was built on Smiths Square. It takes the whole family to find it.

Can Jess and Ellsworth get their whole fighting family to work together or will they fail like every one else who tried? How will they get along? Will they get the treasure? Go ahead read "The Last Treasure."

Rating:
Summary: A third home run for Janet Anderson
Review: This is Janet Anderson's third children's novel, and it contains the same sort of thought-provoking depth as her first two (GOING THROUGH THE GATE and THE MONKEY TREE). On the surface, this is a fast-paced, suspenseful read about the Smith family and the "treasure" that is hidden inside an old brick house. Intriguing flashbacks serve to hold our interest as we venture into this house and try to find the treasure.

However, this book is more than just a treasure hunt, and buried along with the treasure is the story of one boy and his outlook on the world. Ellsworth Smith is one of the most convincing characters I have read in a long time, but he's not the only one - all of Anderson's characters are brought to life with a unique and interesting style of dialogue. In the end, this story delivers a message about family, especially through the relationship between Ellsworth, his father, and his grandfather - the message, however, is never heavy-handed. Anderson's prose is amazingly vivid and poetic, and the story is one of her best yet. The book itself is a hidden treasure waiting to be found.

Rating:
Summary: Zak's Review
Review: Yes, there is treasure, but it's been in the house next door for the last hundred years.
The elder Smiths decide that's been long enough so they send for the younger Smiths, Jess and Ellsworth. Ellsworth hasn't been to the Smith compound since he was a baby, and Jess's mom decided Jess needed a little holiday while she spent some time with her boyfriend. There's a dark family secret; why Jess's dad split out of there and has never returned, and of course why any family would wait 100 years before going after treasure in the house next door!
But the relationship between Jess and Ellsworth and all the wacky Smith family members grows stronger, and Dad does come back to the fold, and everybody holds hands and lives happily ever after.
I'm not kidding... They really do.

Rating:
Summary: X Marks the Spot!
Review: Yes, there is treasure, but it's been in the house next door for the last hundred years.
The elder Smiths decide that's been long enough so they send for the younger Smiths, Jess and Ellsworth. Ellsworth hasn't been to the Smith compound since he was a baby, and Jess's mom decided Jess needed a little holiday while she spent some time with her boyfriend. There's a dark family secret; why Jess's dad split out of there and has never returned, and of course why any family would wait 100 years before going after treasure in the house next door!
But the relationship between Jess and Ellsworth and all the wacky Smith family members grows stronger, and Dad does come back to the fold, and everybody holds hands and lives happily ever after.
I'm not kidding... They really do.