When Penguin Young Readers sent me an email with the subject line “For fans of Indiana Jones and Goonies,” they had my full attention.
The book in question? Addison Cooke & the Treasure of the Incas by Jonathan Stokes, and today we’re kicking off the blog tour with a spotlight on this great new middle grade adventure. Here’s more about it:
Smooth-talking, refined twelve-year-old Addison Cooke loves a grand adventure, especially one that involves using his vast knowledge of history and archaeology, learned from his aunt and uncle, both world-famous researchers. If that adventure includes an expertly-knotted Windsor tie and an Arnold Palmer on the rocks, all the better.
Luckily for Addison, adventure has a way of finding the Cookes. After Addison’s uncle becomes the first to unearth an ancient Incan key, the first clue needed to find a vast trove of lost treasure, he is kidnapped by members of a shadowy organization intent on stealing the riches. An expert in Incan history, Addison’s uncle is the bandits’ key to deciphering the ancient clues and looting the treasure. . . unless Addison and his friends can outsmart the kidnappers and discover the next clues first. Eager to save his aunt and uncle–the closest thing to parents Addison has ever known–Addison, his younger sister Molly, and a pair of quirky friends hop on a plane (business class, no less) to Peru to beat the brigands to the treasure. There they meet up with an unlikely ally; evade police, mobsters, and man-eating crocodiles; and face wits with hidden booby traps and ancient curses–all on an adventure that challenges far more than Addison’s good humor.
Sounds amazing, right?
You can read an excerpt from Addison Cooke & the Treasure of the Incas right now over at Boys’ Life, plus catch an interview with Stokes about his work in movies, the inspiration behind Addison Cooke, and his own mischievous childhood!
Then be sure to tune into every stop on the blog tour this week:
- Monday, 10/10 | Novel Novice
- Tuesday, 10/11 | Ms. Yingling Reads
- Wednesday, 10/12 | Middle Grade Mafioso
- Thursday, 10/13 | The Reading Nook
- Friday, 10/14 | Stories & Sweeties
Jonathan Stokes (www.jonathanwstokes.com) is a writer and director who has written screenplays for Fox, Paramount, Warner Brothers, and Sony/Columbia, and for actors such as Will Smith, Jeremy Renner, and Hugh Jackman. Jonathan’s last four screenplays were all recognized on The Black List, an annual survey of Hollywood executives’ favorite screenplays. He is the only screenwriter to have four scripts on The Hit List. A Connecticut native, Jonathan now resides in Los Angeles where he can be found showing off his incredible taste in dishware and impressive 96% accuracy with high-fives.
Novel Novice 
My students are really enjoying this one! I ended up with three ARCs, and they became hot commodities!