Kaleidoscope Eyes

Will Lyza’s 1968 summer mystery lead to . . . pirate treasure?

When Lyza helps her dad clean out her late grandfather’s house, a mysterious surprise brightens the sad task. In Gramps’s dusty attic, Lyza discovers three maps, carefully folded and stacked, bound by a single rubber band. On top, an envelope says “For Lyza ONLY.” What could this possibly be? It takes the help of her two best friends, Malcolm and Carolann, to figure out that the maps reveal three possible spots in their own New Jersey town where Captain Kidd (the Captain Kidd, seventeenth-century pirate) may have buried a treasure. Can three thirteen-year-olds actually conduct a secret treasure hunt? And what will they find?

In a tale inspired by a true story of buried treasure, Jen Bryant weaves an emotional and suspenseful novel in poems, all set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War during a pivotal year in U.S. history.


From the Hardcover edition.

Jen Bryant is the acclaimed author of poetry, biographies, picture books, and fiction, including The Fortune of Carmen Navarro; Ringside, 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial; Pieces of Georgia; and The Trial, a novel for young readers about the 1932 kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s son.

A graduate of Gettysburg College, Jen Bryant teaches children's literature at West Chester University and lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and daughter. To learn more about the author and her books, please visit www.jenbryant.com.