The Vanishing Island

The Chronicles of the Black Tulip, Book 1

Written by Barry Wolverton

Oh, this book…

It felt like it dragged on forever. I could only read half a chapter at a time, so it did drag on. I didn’t like the writing style, I wanted the main character, Bren, to sneak onto a ship and then the ship to sink. I felt like there was a lot of detail where there didn’t need to be, and not enough where there should’ve been. I thought there were too many characters introduced all at once, so I was always getting confused about who was whom, and what their role in the story was.

The first part of the story was really intense, and would probably scare anyone in under 5th grade. I’d recommend this book for high readers in 5th an 6th grades, but no younger than that. I think this book isn’t worth buying, but if you can come across it as free, well, free is free. I’m really disappointed that it wasn’t better and I didn’t enjoy it more.

Review by Allyson Rolfe, Granger Elementary Media Center
Rating: ★★✩✩✩ (2 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 5-6

The Chronicles of the Black Tulip, Book 1
The Vanishing Island
Written by Barry Wolverton
Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
347 pages
Release Date: September 1, 2015

Tags:

2015 Middle Grade Fiction, Adventure Fiction, Allyson Rolfe, Barry Wolverton, Buried Treasure Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Magic Fiction, Sea Adventures Fiction, The Chronicles of the Black Tulip, The Vanishing Island, Treasure Hunt Fiction