The Fossil Hunter of Sydney Mines

THE FOSSIL HUNTER OF SYDNEY MINES

By:  Jo Ann Yhard

FIRST SENTENCE

“Grace double-checked her gear: flashlight, matches,

pocket knife, caving rope, rock hammer, and gloves- all there.”

SUMMARY
from goodreads

Thirteen-year-old Grace already has too much going on- grieving over her father’s mysterious death, dealing with her distraught mother’s erratic parenting, and evading her creepy nosy neighbor, Mr. Stuckless, just for starters.  She and her friends Fred, Mai, and Jeeter like to get away from it all by hunting for fossils near their secret hideaway, the abandoned mine they nicknamed The Black Hole.  But when Grace receives a strange note regarding her father’s death, it sets off a chain of events that sees Grace and her friends turning into detectives to solve the mystery behind his suspicious disappearance.  As the clues and suspects start piling up and the investigation becomes more and more dangerous, Grace and her friends find themselves racing against time through treacherous sinkholes and abandoned mine shafts to figure out what really happened to her father.

REVIEW

Grace receives a note about her father’s recent death saying “It wasn’t an accident!”  This note sets Grace and her friends on an adventure to solve the mystery.  They use their fossil hunting skills to help them find clues. 

Jo Ann Yhard writes a good mystery.  Not all authors have that talent.  She drops clues along the way, but does not make anything too obvious until the very end.  Nice!  There was all sorts of fossil hunting information, making that part of the story very realistic. 

The realism was somewhat lost with the characters.  I am not sure who these kids think they are, but they are sneaking out at all hours and they have way more freedom than any kids I know.  Who lets their kids go hunting for fossils in dangerous mines with no adults around?  I couldn’t picture that actually happening. 

Thank you to Jo Ann Yhard for sending this middle grade book for me to review.

RATING

5        Plot

3        Characters

4        Attention Grabbing

3        Girlie Meter

4        Ending

19      TOTAL

4        STARS