An Incredible Journey Books
Connie Lee Berry
Reminiscent of The Magic Tree House books, the Incredible Journey
series is packed full of educational material. Each book contains
various geographical facts about the destinations of the Stone
brothers, along with science facts, experiments, and poetry. A visit to
the serie's site offers the
opportunity to join the Incredible
Journey Club and additional resources such as printable word searches,
crossword puzzles, and word scrambles relative to each book.
Reviewed by Sabrina Williams
The Criminal in the Caymans
Max and Sam Stone are two curious little boys. The brothers discover
they are taking a trip to the Cayman Islands for Spring Break in The
Criminal in the Caymans, the first book in the Incredible Journey
series by Connie Lee Berry. Their dad's work is taking him to the
islands and the family gets to come along for a vacation.
Shortly before the family leaves for the anticipated trip, several
packages arrive for the boys from an unidentified sender. One contains
a map, the other contains a journal. Puzzled, but intrigued, Sam
decides to bring them along. These items may come in handy during the
upcoming adventure.
There will be much more than sunbathing and relaxation during this
vacation. A sinister character has traveled from Florida to the Caymans
ahead of the Stone family. When the boys stumble across the man's
secret, they realize their lives may be in danger! The boys will
discover the frightening man isn't the only person keeping secrets in
the Caymans.
Treasure in Tahiti
Summer vacation has arrived for Max and Sam Stone in Treasure in
Tahiti, the second release in the Incredible Journey series by Connie
Lee Berry. Surprised yet again with a vacation complements of their
father's employer, the boys wind up in a primitive hut in Tahiti. The
closest store is miles away and the family even has to use an outhouse!
While Mrs. Stone grumbles about their deplorable living conditions, Max
and Sam persuade their father to explore a nearby island. They are sure
the island must be the same one on the treasure map Max discovered
under the floorboards of the hut. Will the boys find a buried treasure
on the island? Or will something dangerous await them instead?
Unfortunately, the story is a little flat and the sequence of events is
a bit too choppy, without a lot of transition. There is a third
sibling--a little sister named Sydney--who barely warrants a mention in
either book and is conveniently left with a sitter while the rest of
the family travels. Sydney's story either needs to be expanded upon or
left out all together, but as it stands, she's left on the fringe with
no real purpose.
There are illustrations accompanying each chapter, but they appear to
be texturized photographs, which my resident eight-year-old reviewer
did not like at all. Children tend to expect outlined illustrations in
these types of chapter books, and they aren't partial to change. The
series has lots of potential and fits nicely into the children's
adventure genre, but readers will sense that too much of the book is
based on the attributes of actual people to become fully engrossed in
the fiction.
It will be interesting to see the destinations visited in further
installments, as the first two volumes were set on tropical islands.
According to the IJ website, books three and four are already in the
works, and the settings are Africa and Puerto Rico. Personally, I'd
like to find out the significance of the map and journal and who the
mysterious sender is, which I'm sure will be expounded upon in future
releases.