Treasure Island (Illustrated Library for Children)

Rating:
Summary: Treasure Island: Robert Louis Stevenson
Review: Jim Hawkins is an 1880's English boy, who lives along the English coast in his father's inn, the Admiral Benbow. He has a perfectly normal life, until the mysterious Billy Bones comes to stay at the inn. Then, Billy dies after a fight with a strange caller. Among his possessions, Jim finds an old treasure map. Along with the Squire Trelawney and Doctor Livesey, Jim sails off to Treasure Island. Unfortunately, the crew of the ship they go on is not as trustworthy as first thought. Jim discovers that they are really pirates, and soon he and the few honest men on board are made victims of a mutiny. Now, they must embark on a quest to get to the treasure before the crew and to stay alive in the process.
Stevenson does a wonderful job of describing the appearances of people and places, creating vivid, colorful, and well-defined images of what he is talking about. Long John Silver, one of Stevenson's many characters, is an example of the author's amazing abilities to describe, in this case not only appearance, but in personality. I felt like I knew him inside out. Other characters are also very well described. That's not all that's good about this book. Treasure Island is a very captivating story. It immediately drew me in with its old style of writing (it was written in the 1880's) and great plot.
This is a great novel and, while it carries no strong message, is a great way to use up your free time. I recommend this wonderful story to anyone who enjoys adventure, danger, and would like to go and hunt for buried treasure.

--Jabbermonkey Fitsgerald

Rating:
Summary: Murder and Mayhem and Maurading Pirates.
Review: This wonderfully crafted edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure story is great for any serious reader of classic literature. It's also great for kids. Who can ever forget Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, or Ben Gunn or the unique bond that forms between the wise youth (Hawkins) and experienced seaman (Silver)? Murder on the high seas. Violent battles on an island full of treasure. People who actually talk the way real people talk. It's all here and more. TREASURE ISLAND is one of my favorite Stevenson stories and I highly reccommend it.