Lola Benko Treasure Hunter, grounded action for middle school

Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter will feel familiar, but it’s a character and story that is new to you. On the cover, we see a teen-aged-girl who is exploring a giant cavern-esque area with two friends. She’s carrying a headlight with a massive head, like the one that only construction engineers or professional spelunkers would use. The cover’s font could easily be mistaken for entry into the National Treasure film franchise. In addition to that, there are several things within the story that older readers will recognize as influences for the story. However, Lola Benko Treasure Hunter is aimed at readers aged nine through middle school and they might not know or even catch those references.

That is OK. Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter is its own entity, a treasure inspired romp that has family and friends much closer than the prizes that might exist at the end. Lola is the daughter of an archeologist who is normally traveling the globe with her dad. All of that came to an abrupt end when her dad said that the next mission was far too dangerous and sent Lola to live with family in California. Sure enough, shortly after she arrived in the Golden State her dad disappears while on the search for a rock that supposedly has magical powers.

Lola doesn’t give up that easy though. She’s got a great education on the streets of any place in the world and concocts a plan to raise money and find him. That doesn’t work out and fails spectacularly. She is sent to a new school where the teachers might just be able to keep her under control. However, shortly after arriving there, she meets one friend who fans the creative and paranoid flame. There are also subplots of a science fair that’s happening in the school and another friend who is a bit too competitive with her first friend.   

I expected Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter to be a full-on, travel the world spy adventure with a pack of high school kids leading the way. There are some great books that I’ve read with that plot and would love to read another one. Instead, this book is more grounded and concentrates on things close to home, like finding family and figuring out who your friends really are. It is not that this book is devoid of action, it’s just that I thought it would be akin to a teen-James Bond book. The blurb about finding a magical stone and the picture of the three main characters with those cool flashlights in a dark setting might’ve led my mind down that path.

The book’s author, Beth McMullen also wrote the very popular Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls series. That book was more in line with what I thought Treasure Hunter would be like; think a more girl-centered version of Spy School. Treasure Hunter has enough action to keep those fans engaged, but they might find the book to be a little predictable. Even older readers who’ve read my synopsis of the book up until here could probably tell you the twists that come in the book.

It is a fun book to read and there was one nice twist that readers won’t see coming. Overall, this book feels like a placeholder in the series. Given that this is the first book in this proposed series it might’ve been better to come out with the full globe-trotting adventure. Because the book feels like it’s holding back it’ll limit those middle school readers who come back for the second book or recommend it to their friends. “It’s a good book, like Spy School, Charlie Thorne or Mrs. Smith’s Spy School; but without the exotic locations and with more family”, is how some kids might describe it. That’s not an insult to Treasure Hunter, but it’s not an overwhelming recommendation either.

Lola Benko Treasure Hunter is by Beth McMullen and available on Simon & Schuster.

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