Now want to read the series... ( )

Would have been 4 stars, but this book winds up only being the introduction to the story, with no answers, which knocked it down to 3 stars. ( )

This was interesting for the boys and was okay for me as well. This is the start of a series and there was no closure at all in the main story line. It's like this book was the first 10 chapters of a really long story. Guess we'll have to read the rest of them. ( )

This book was so much fun. I was lucky enough to get an ARC from the folks at Simon & Schuster (THANK YOU) so I had the pleasure of reading this prior to its 04/06/10 release. It's the start to a new series that promises more fun to be had. You might even learn a thing or two along the way! Definitely recommended reading! ( )

This is book one in a series about Benjamin and his friend Jill. They attend the seaside Oakes School, which has stood for over two hundred years, but will be torn down within weeks. The town has sold the school land and some of the seaside land to a huge corporation that builds historical theme parks, so they'll be tearing down the actual history in order to build fake history.
Ben comes across the school janitor, who has just broken his ankle on the school stairs. The old man presses a gold coin into Ben's hand and demands a promise that Ben will defend the school. From what, or how, becomes a mystery Ben and Jill have to solve on their own, as the janitor dies within hours.
If I came across more from this series, I'd follow it. It's pretty smart, with researching clues and a very detailed boat race. ( )