In Emily Fairlie‘s The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck, an unlikely pair of friends, sixth graders Bud and Laurie, are on the hunt of a lifetime. For eighty years, since the founding of the middle school, Tuckernuck Hall, a “treasure beyond bounds” has been hidden somewhere in the school’s rambling, eccentric building.
Laurie wishes she could attend Hamilton Junior High with her friends, but she’s stuck being a Clucker at Tuckernuck. Bud’s been a social outcast since his science project resulted in a ban on all candy, soda and junk food from the entire school district. When the two are assigned Gerbil Monitor duty, they stumble upon what appears to be a legitimate clue to the location of the long-searched-for Tutweiler Treasure.
It takes Bud and Laurie awhile to realize they can trust each other and that they actually make an effective team of detectives, but eventually they fall into a rhythm that is both intuitive and bold. Enigmatic clues turn up all around the school, and Bud and Laurie have to do some pretty challenging problem solving to decipher 80-year old riddles while staying one step ahead of suspicious teachers and classmates. Adding to the tension, is the fact that the future of the school itself is hanging in the balance since a faction of the school board wants to shut the doors forever. Does the treasure really exist and can Bud and Laurie find it? And even if they do, will it have any effect on the fate of beloved Tuckernuck Hall?
Fairlie’s story is an enjoyable combination of a clever mystery and classic buddy story told in a mixture of prose, notes, lists, and black and white illustrations. Its fun to treasure hunt along with Bud and Laurie and anyone who loves a mystery will enjoy The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck from first page to last.
- Posted by Cori