Children's Book Review

The Silver Creek Secret
by Christopher Doyle
ISBN-10: 1403392811
Review by Heather Froeschl

This roller coaster ride is fun and entertaining, July 20, 2004
On Kurt’s thirteenth birthday he beat his record time in climbing Mount Catawalla and took a little rest at the top. But when we wakes up, we is no longer overlooking the Milky Way Amusement Park, but rather a very flat desert with mountains in the distance. He can see a few buildings not too far away and soon stumbles into the town where things are not quite what they seem and neither is he.

The townspeople, a handful of adults and a bunch of kids, seem to think he is Roy Sharp, returned from whence he vanished to years before. Vanished into thin air while riding his donkey. Kurt finds all of it vaguely familiar, and he should, for his Grandfather’s stories of the old west revolved around these very people and the town of Silver Creek. But Silver Creek is not what old Pa’s stories made it out to be. This Silver Creek is dried up. The kids don’t know what fun is and the adults can’t seem to remember things. Something just isn’t right in this town where the children never grow older and the adults are never thirsty.

Kurt pieces together the puzzling circumstances around him and realizes that he must escape this place in order to find his way back home. The mountains seem to hold the answers he seeks. Will he make it back to his own life? Will the other kids do the same?

Christopher Doyle has created a mirage in the desert that is full of mystery and secrets. With a captivating plot and truly interesting characters, he grabs the reader’s attention and doesn’t let go until the end of the tale. This roller coaster ride is fun and entertaining, keeping the reader guessing to the last page. Part of the plot may be a little confusing to some readers but following through will clear things up and bring closure.