Secret Scouts and The Lost Leonardo, it aims high and mostly succeeds

Secret Scouts and the Lost Leonardo aims for the stratosphere. From the front cover we glean that it’s about four kids and a huge secret that involves history that could possibly propel them through space and time. All that’s missing is a Goonies-centric, blue phone box that’s bigger on the inside. The book angles itself as all age Da Vinci Code and for the most part it succeeds. Although for us it was more akin to a National Treasure with an upper middle school cast.

Tom, Lisa, Sophie and Jack are best friends who find a mysterious room in their home. Inside this millennia-old-room are dozens of artifacts and one sketch that appears more precious than the rest.  Through a bit of research-and lots of imagination, they come to a wacky hypothesis that it’s actually an ancient sketch from Leonardo da Vinci.

This is where the book finds its solid hook that allows readers to remain engaged throughout. Every elementary school kid has found a stick in the backyard that they pretend is a dinosaur bone. Did you hear about the girl in Norway who found a 1,000 year old Viking sword in a lake? That story is also amazing and Mr. & Mrs. Kind need to get a copy of Secret Scouts to that girl post haste.

Another reason why Secret Scouts works is that the very first two pages of the book are divided up into four short paragraphs of things that you need to know before reading the book. The odds are that most adults won’t know these facts and they are integral to every plot point in the book so read them. In brief, Leonardo da Vinci had an 18 month gap in his life that wasn’t documented. Big deal right? But he was the world’s most famous artist, even back then and every other period of his life was fully documented, even his Fat Elvis period. Da Vinci’s painting The Invisible Angel, The Lost Leonardo and a nasty island off the coast of Venice called Poveglia that served as a plague colony are also highlighted.

Sure enough, the friends have discovered a device that, in theory, can take them through time. But do they have the courage to try and use the device and possibly meet da Vinci himself? Would they spend time with him in his workshop, transport priceless works of art to the future so that they and their families would never have to worry about money again?

The book also balances the fanciful aspects of time travel with the practical possibilities of income and selling things. They’re also teens or pre-teens, so if said time travel machine worked then what are the odds on a group of teens not losing an integral component of it at some course in their travels?

Secret Scouts and the Lost Leonardo succeeds more than it falters. It moves briskly, for the most; part although there is a lot of dialogue that might water down some of the speed or enjoyment for those readers who are looking for a book in the vein of National Treasure. Middle school readers who are looking for a good story will enjoy the book. Those readers who are looking for a more action themed book will hope that the sequel Secret Scouts and The Missing President has more National Treasure and less Da Vinci Code.