Bargain Book Reviews

Yaakov the Pirate Hunter by Nathaniel Wyckoff

Yaakov the Pirate Hunter by Nathaniel Wyckoff follows the adventures of Yaakov and his family, who find a treasure map hidden in one of the family’s robots. The journey takes them from the Mojave Desert to a billionaire’s home, to an island, halfway across the world.

The first thing I would like to address is the cover. While it is beautiful, had my children asked me to pick a book off the shelf that was about pirates and robots and a children’s book, this is not one I would assume covered all three without looking at the back. I think something more colorful may catch a child’s eye. I do love the cover for an adult nautical adventure though.

Now for the actual story. As an adult reading it, I thought Yaakov clever with some of his intuitive leaps, but clues conveniently show up and they have robots to do a lot of their detective work for them. I did enjoy the story though, and think kids that are fans of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys will enjoy this mystery. I also really enjoyed learning about the Jewish faith, which played a role in this book, and think that it will get kids interested in a religion they may not know about.

I did enjoy the family dynamics. The two brothers acted just as I expect two young boys to act, and were fairly tolerant of their younger sister. The only real issue I had was some of the dialog felt a little stilted. Other than that, the book is simple to read, sets us up for book two, and good for an advanced second grade to perhaps a fifth grader reader.

My Rating: 3.7/5

Plot: 4/5

Writing: 3.5/5

Dialog: 3/5

Characters: 4.5/5

Entertainment: 3.5/5

If you have a young reader in mind, this book is available on Amazon for $2.99.

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Thanks for reading!

 -Ali