The Gold Bug of Farrow Point: A Young-Adult Novel

Rating:
Summary: Really Cool Book
Review: I bought this book for my niece because we met the
author at a book signing, and he told Ellie, "This
book is about a girl about your age named
Ellen--almost the same as your name. It's all about
codes, and smuggling and kidnapping, and, best of all,
it is proof positive that girls are smarter than boys.
Without Ellen, George would be in deep trouble."
>
That sold her. My niece is already certain she is
smarter than her brother. For that reason alone, she
had to have the book. Now, I'm grateful to say, she
has a greater interest in reading and she is hooked on
learning more about decoding.
>
We need more interesting books like this.

Rating:
Summary: Really Cool Book
Review: I bought this book for my niece because we met the
author at a book signing, and he told Ellie, "This
book is about a girl about your age named
Ellen--almost the same as your name. It's all about
codes, and smuggling and kidnapping, and, best of all,
it is proof positive that girls are smarter than boys.
Without Ellen, George would be in deep trouble."
>
That sold her. My niece is already certain she is
smarter than her brother. For that reason alone, she
had to have the book. Now, I'm grateful to say, she
has a greater interest in reading and she is hooked on
learning more about decoding.
>
We need more interesting books like this.

Rating:
Summary: Brother & Sister Follow Poe & Solve Florida Mystery
Review: Prompted by Poe's famous short story, George and Ellen Hilton decode a mysterious note while vacationing with their parents on Florida's Gulf coast. This young-adult mystery features smugglers, a baffling cipher, and a girl who does the brain work while the boy blunders into the villain's toils, updating the classic Nancy Drew /Hardy Boys tradition. Pyle casts the story in first person, alternating the point of view between big brother George and his sister Ellen.
Pyle's protagonists seem to be in their early teens. Ellen is old enough to enjoy window-shopping and beauty treatments; George is at least a year older, but doesn't have a driver's license. Even as they team up like chopsticks to solve the mystery, they bicker and one-up each other like real siblings. One of Pyle's best lines comes when Ellen spots George racing home, having earlier slipped away without bringing his sister (a family no-no): "He was in deep trouble. I couldn't wait to tell him."
Pyle gives both kids somewhat mature vocabularies for their ages. After George fails to look as if he's window-shopping, Ellen tells him, "Oh, boy, am I disappointed in you" (a simple "Sludge-brain!" would have worked for me). When Ellen tries to coach him in decoding the note, George protests, "Yes, but the letters in this code-or in any equal number of words-are not going to follow the order of the Printer's Frequencies."
Although some passages read rather heavily, such as Ellen's step-by-step descriptions of her (somewhat flawed) decoding process, the story is a good yarn. Unlike traditional mystery heroines, Ellen reports George's disappearance the minute she knows of it, rather than dashing off to "rescue" him without telling anyone.
Generous elder relatives may want to buy this book for young readers who thrill to secret codes and young detectives. Its characters are far better developed than the Nancy Drew crew, and behave far more intelligently--not to say believably.