"Andrea Carter and the Trouble With Treasure", from kregel publications, a TOS Crew Review

When I was a girl, I loved to read. My aunt would take my cousins and me to the library regularly. Fiction was my favorite, where I could lose myself in a story, go to the place I was reading about in my mind.


Autism keeps me busy these days, and most of my books are non-fiction and are autism related. I forget how much I need an escape.


"Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure," by Susan K. Marlow, ($7.99 from kregel publications) is a book written for tweens, a little young for me, but entertaining, still, and a nice escape for me from autism for a little while. I could feel the heat of summer on my skin, imagine riding on horseback, see the water. Author Marlowe paints beautiful pictures with her words. Now that I'm finished with the book, I'm passing it along to my tween and my pre-teen who are reading at that level. I think they'll both enjoy it.



The story is set in the San Joaquin Valley in the summer of 1881. Andi, her brother, and two friends (one is visiting Andi from the Washington Territory) head off into the wilderness on horseback to camp, fish, and pan for gold for a couple of weeks before one of Andi's friends must head back home again. They pan for gold, run into a rattlesnake, one of them sustains a head injury, they find strangers in a cabin they believed was empty, are part of a gunfight, and are rescued from a frightening situation.

The story is "clean", no cursing, no teen puppy love, yet the book isn't preachy, either. There is a sample from chapter one HERE.

This book is written about a time when we had no telephones or cell phones -- I have to admit that I kept wondering what we did before cell phones and constant communication. I've forgotten what that's like.

The 141 page book is part of Susan K. Marlow's Circle C Adventures series for tweens about the adventures Andrea "Andi" Carter. A free unit study that accompanies the book, Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure is located HERE. "Andi" and her horse, Taffy, blog here.

Read the reviews of this book by my Crewmates HERE.

As part of The Old Schoolhouse Crew of reviewers, I was given a complimentary copy of "Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure" from kregel publications. I am not compensated for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Redefining {beau*ti*ful} by Jenna Lucado with Max Lucado

I remember being a teenager, with all of the insecurities that come with that stage. Dealing with the image looking back at me in the mirror (never what I wanted it to be); navigating the course of friendships and boys; wanting to be liked by everyone -- I went through what everyone goes through at that age.

Jenna Lucado (daughter of pastor, teacher, and best-selling author Max Lucado) did too.

I would have liked to have had a book like this when I was a teenager. Sometimes, teens don't realize that the feelings and experiences they have are common to all teens.

Jenna relates to young girls with stories from her own tween and teen years. Whether the reader has a wonderful relationship with her dad, or doesn't know her dad, or anything in between, Lucado and her dad write for every girl as she shares from her heart and from scripture, the definition of "beautiful" from our Heavenly Father.

In Redefining Beautiful, What God Sees When God Sees You, ($12.99 from Thomas Nelson) Jenna covers all of the topics that can create insecurities for tweens and teens in a book/journal that guides readers through a journey of redefining beautiful, a definition that comes through the eyes of a Father.

My 12-year-old was too busy with homework and the review period too short for her to get to do more than skim "Redefining Beautiful," and she says it looks "cool!" and she asked me if she could write in it. (ABSOLUTELY!) I'll follow up with her input when she's had time and space to dive into it.

Watch Jenna Lucado chat about the book HERE.