Homeschooling Today reviews Lost Island Smugglers

A Sam Cooper Adventure

A Review of Lost Island Smugglers
by Max Elliot Anderson

Reviewed by Marilyn Rockett

Boys love adventure, excitement, and challenge, but often they don’t like to read. Max Elliot Anderson, author of Lost Island Smugglers (Port Yonder Press, 2010), understands because he grew up hating to read. Now he writes adventure stories for boys aged eight to twelve (but girls love them too). What mother doesn’t want to find a book with good values wrapped around an adventure story her sons will enjoy?


Fans of Anderson’s seven previous stories will notice that this new Sam Cooper Adventure Series departs from Anderson’s prior writing. His earlier books have had different characters and settings, but Lost Island Smugglers is the first in the new series featuring the same central characters.


A Life-and-Death Adventure


Sam Cooper, the new boy in town again, hates to move. His father’s job as a research biologist takes the family to many interesting places, but it is always hard for Sam to find new friends before it is time to pack up and leave. He wants this move to Florida to be different, but when Sam meets Tony and Tyler at his new church, he doesn’t foresee how different it will be!


Learning to scuba dive with his new friends begins as a fun adventure for Sam but turns into a scary, life-threatening experience because of the boys’ disobedience. A hurricane, a deserted island, and a secret hideout for some frightening characters with high-powered speedboats make the boys wonder whether they will live to see their parents again. They learn a lesson in truth and that it isn’t wise to try to get away with something thinking no one will find out about it.


Some have said that Sam Cooper Adventures are like good family movies, and Anderson brings his award-winning film and video production experience to the written page in stories that will encourage boys to read. Additional titles in the Sam Cooper series, coming soon, include Captain Jack’s Treasure and River Rampage. To learn more about Max Anderson and his writing, visit http://www.maxbooks.9k.com. For interesting and fun information about raising boys and reading, visit Anderson’s blog: http://booksandboys.blogspot.com/.


Marilyn Rockett is a graduated homeschool mother of four sons, grandmother to five home-taught boys, and great-grandmother to one boy. She has read to boys for countless hours and survived their adventures.


Originally published in Homeschooling Today® magazine (Jan/Feb 2011). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Also be sure to see these videos:
 
Video Books Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uswTZ-pJLYA
 
Barney and the Runaway book trailer 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0l7ZU94Ieo&feature=mfu  


Soccer Cat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-rLbhrn2uc&feature=mfu