Sid and her best friend, Zen, love to play spooky games in the graveyard of their small, coastal village. One stormy night Sid inadvertently frees a 300 year old pirate ghost from a mysterious Halfway House. The story that unfolds is how Sid and Zen help Captain Bones and his crew find their treasure so they can cross over to the other side.
Parallels to McLachlan’s previous series, The Land of Roar, were clear to me. Both stories are exciting adventures with unpredictable twists and turns along the way. Sid reminds me of Arthur, as both were the unassuming heroes of their stories who displayed bravery they probably didn’t really feel they would have been capable of beforehand. Zen reminded me of Win, the carefree loyal sidekick. But above all, McLachlan writes a great baddie. In both series the villains are revealed slowly over the book and the suggestion of them alone, strikes fear into the band of characters working against them.
Tom, age 10, says: “I like Jenny McLachlan books because they always have a good mystery. This time I liked the theme of mystery and history. My favourite character is Zen because he’s funny and silly and doesn’t really care what people think about him. I really liked Elizabeth too, because she’s funny.
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