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Rating: 
Summary: a treasure of a book!
Review: An archetypal prince-to-pauper story, The Smuggler's Treasure acquaints the 10-years-and-older reader with a child protagonist whose financial and emotional security change drastically upon the British capture of her father. Opening with Elisabet voyaging toward New Orleans from New England, the book details not only geographical and historical elements of America in 1814, but throws the protagonist into the discomfort of working as a commoner in her aunt's bakery after living the life of a high-society Northerner. Strangely, the novel rushes Elisabet into quick acceptance of her new financial status after a few token days of refusing to give up wearing her thick, hot, woolen dresses of the North. Soon, the heat takes its toll and Elisabet symbolically attires herself in the thin cottons of the South, and immediately the culture shock and grief disappear-just in time for the author to highlight the adventure of pirates, clues, and treasure. Although unrealistic in its character portrayal, and in its speed in tidying away the parental crisis, the book does effectively engage the reader (juvenile or adult) due to the fast plot movement, tantalizing swamp adventure, and the hovering danger.
As the first in Pleasant Company's History Mystery Series, The Smuggler's Treasure serves to entice young readers thriving on excitement. The publishers picked well when selecting it as the heralding book of the series since The Smuggler's Treasure far excels over the rest in the series due to the provocative excitement of Elisabet's struggle against Pirates and her independent ransoming for the freedom of her father.
Sure to be a positive factor with parents, teachers, and librarians, the book's historical "Looking Back" end-section provides accurate photographs, drawings, and facts about Louisiana, the War of 1812, and Pirate Smugglers. Historical documentation provides a framework for the interested child to weigh the difference between fact and fiction and allows teachers an accessible way to frame discussions on history.
The black ink engravings heading each chapter complement the historical nature of the book while the painterly, color illustrations on the cover, frontispiece, and map attract the eyes due to the atmospheric, dramatic, diagonal compositions. It is, however, unfortunate that cover illustrator, Troy Howell, conveys the frightened, scrambling Elisabet with a zombie-like gaping mouth and staring, vacant eyes. If the reader can successfully look past the first cover-expression, and dive right into the intrigue, mystery, and fast-paced adventure of The Smuggler's Treasure, the boy or girl reader is guaranteed to close the book with renewed curiosity about the real-life drama of pirates and the contented satisfaction of an adventure well written.
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Summary: An exciting story set during the War of 1812.
Review: In 1814, after her father is captured by the British, eleven-year-old Elisabet Holder must leave Boston to live with her aunt and uncle in New Orleans. When she arrives, she learns her uncle is dead, her aunt has gone to Baton Rogue, and she is expected to work in her aunt's bakery like a servant. When Elisabet learns of a treasure her uncle hid before he died, she decides to search for it so she can ransom her father. But that's only the beginning of the story. THE SMUGGLER'S TREASURE is an exciting combination of mystery, adventure, and history. I immensely enjoyed it and look forward to future books in the HISTORY MYSTERIES series.
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Summary: The Smuggler's Treasure
Review: In the thick of the War of 1812, it'a the year 1814. Wealthy, sheltered Elisabet Holden's father, a navy captain, is captured by the British because he was born in London. With her mother long deceased, Elisabet must go live with her Aunt and Uncle, whom she has never met, in New Orleans. After a long trip, she discovers that her Uncle died days before she arrived and her Aunt is out of town. Surprisingly, she is forced to work in the Horn of Plenty bakery, which her Aunt owns. Rumors of a treasure map hidden in the bakery and sightings of her uncle's ghost make her leery of her new home. When she learns from an American pirate that her father can be freed for a large ransom, Elisabet decides to find the lost treasure map in hopes of getting a reward.
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Summary: The Smuggler's Treasure
Review: The Smuggler's Treasure, Sarah Masters Buckey Elisabet Holder, is the main character in the novel, The Smuggler's Treasure. She is sent from Boston to New Orleans to live with Aunt, because her dad was captured by the British. This takes place in 1814, when America was fightening against the British. Elisabet forces herself to find the smuggled treasure to earn her dad's freedom. In my attention was grabbed right from the beginning. As the book progresses Elisabet realizes the treasure has been hidden in her own house. This book is a great book for people who like mysteries. I liked this book because every chapter has a mystery to it. I would recommend this book to girls.
Rating:
Summary: Smuggler's Treasure
Review: The Smuggler's Treasure, Sarah Masters Buckey Elisabet Holder, is the main character in the novel, The Smuggler's Treasure. She is sent from Boston to New Orleans to live with Aunt, because her dad was captured by the British. This takes place in 1814, when America was fightening against the British. Elisabet forces herself to find the smuggled treasure to earn her dad's freedom. In my attention was grabbed right from the beginning. As the book progresses Elisabet realizes the treasure has been hidden in her own house. This book is a great book for people who like mysteries. I liked this book because every chapter has a mystery to it. I would recommend this book to girls.
Rating:
Summary: The Smugglers Treasure
Review: This book is pretty creative and interesting, but it isn't a mystery. Elisabet is a rich girl and after her father is captured by the British she must (to her dismay) work in a bakery. She moves from Boston to New Orleans and lives with her aunt and uncle. Elisabet isn't looking forward to any of this, but one day a suspicious character comes to the bakery and she listens to his conversation as she cleans up the bakery. Then she comes up with plans to save her father.
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