Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are having a great time visiting their friend, Sammi, the prince of Costra. They swim, soak in the sun, and admire the bright yellow yacht that is moored offshore. But the owners of the yacht are acting a little suspicious. And then there's a robbery on the island! Could there be a connection between the robbery and the mysterious yellow yacht? It's up to Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose to find out.
In the second-to-last A to Z Mysteries book, Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose arrive in Costra, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. After The Kidnapped King, they became friends with the young Prince of Costra, Samir, and now they're about to be reunited... just in time for another mystery.
After saying goodbye to their parents, the children board their plane to the island; within twenty-four hours, they're hanging out with royalty. Their brief reunion with Prince Samir Bin Oz--Sammi to his friends--is followed by an introduction to his parents, King Farhad and Queen Grace, who have obviously been rescued from their own off-screen kidnapping ordeal.
Several days into the trip, crisis comes in the form of a bank robbery on Sammi's birthday, and the kids find a note that incriminates two of the minor character who've been nothing but friendly so far--one of whom is a close friend of the king. It's up to Dink, Josh, Ruth Rose, and Sammi to get to the bottom of the theft of the King's gold.
It's a cute mystery in a unique setting for the series; it's the only book that takes the plot outside the United States, and it's always nice when a children's chapter book sets their non-U.S. installment somewhere other than Mexico, Canada, or Western Europe, even if Costra's a fictional country. (I don't think I've ever seen a U.S.-set chapter book series visit the Indian Ocean, as a matter of fact.) And for a series that doesn't have a ton of diversity to it, it's definitely awesome.
Like the previous twenty-four books, I highly recommend The Yellow Yacht to young mystery fans. The A to Z Mysteries series has been a favorite of mine since very early childhood, and I absolutely credit it with helping to cultivate my love of reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment