Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure, by Susan K. Marlow

I finished reading Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure today. It's a nail-biter! Lots of suspense, lots of action, lots of trouble. This fifth book in Susan K. Marlow’s Circle C Adventures series for ‘tweens continues to showcase the author’s readability and appeal to the younger audience.

Main character Andi Carter has recently turned thirteen and is struggling with the idea of growing up. After innocent horseplay lands Andi and her friends in jail, they venture into the Sierra Nevada mountains to pan for gold and leave their troubles behind. But trouble finds them. A shootout with bank robbers leaves her brother seriously injured and sheltered in a remote cabin. Andi must nurse him to health and fend off some serious dangers while keeping hope alive.

Andi is able to count on her friends to get through the tough times and comes to find out that treasure is more than just a handful of shiny gold.

Once back home on the Circle C Ranch near Fresno, California, with her brother on the mend, Andi realizes growing up might not be such a bad idea after all. She recalls her brother’s words to her from their first night on the trail, “I’d rather have a sensible young woman around—one who can think clearly and do what’s got to be done,” and rather likes the idea of being considered sensible.

While this book is the fifth in the series, Trouble with Treasure is quite enjoyable on its own and can stand alone. I do recommend reading books one through four, though, to get to know Andi, her friends, and her family, and to catch a glimpse of the Old West and 1880s America.

For further study, a FREE enrichment study guide is available for Trouble with Treasure and includes a geography study, a vocabulary list, and a recipe for Andi’s Beef [Jerky] Broth, as well as web links of period photos, an Annie Oakley word puzzle, and a creative rattlesnake craft. Click the PDF graphic at the bottom of Susan’s website to download. Lapbooks are available by separate purchase for grades 3-6. You can sample Susan’s panning for gold activity at this Magical Mouse Schoolhouse feature.

Read more about Susan in this Aim for Perfection Editing interview or by visiting her website. Be on the lookout this fall for Susan’s sixth and final Circle C Adventures installment, Andrea Carter and the Price of Truth. Andi's adventures are not concluding, however. Soon younger children can learn to read with Circle C Beginnings, an upcoming series of early reader chapter books that introduce a six-year-old Andi to the elementary audience. Each Circle C Beginnings book will have color covers and illustrated pictures. Look for Pony Trouble next winter. Visit Andi’s blog for an adorable treat to hear little Andi herself tell all about it.

The Circle C Adventures series is wholesome reading for the entire family.

Compensation Disclosure: I received one complimentary copy of this book from Kregel in exchange for reviewing it on my blog.