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Saltwater Taffy
Endorsed by Teachers of the Year around the country, Saltwater Taffy follows the lives of five tweenage friends as they uncover a treasure map that once belonged to the ruthless New Orleans pirate, Jean Lafitte. The discovery thrusts them from one treasure hunting adventure to the next as they try to out-wit, out-think and out-maneuver everyone from the one-legged junk-yard man and an overbearing town bully, to the creepy old man living at the top of the hill. Saltwater Taffy is a raceto-the-finish adventure that grabs the reader and never lets go.
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2010
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72 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 28, 2016
You know, for a book that has practically 3 pages worth of praise in the front, I was really disappointed with this read, and I don't think it's the characters or the plot's fault (albeit if the characters ARE a little cliche and stereotyped)... the thing that really got onto my nerves is the way this author writes dialogue. The author has clearly never overheard kids speaking to other kids before because it all sounds forced and it definitely doesn't sound like it's coming out of the mouth of a twelve year old boy. Forty-year old man, maybe. The dialogue magically ages all the characters about thirty years. Also, the author has a REALLY bad habit of writing "old sayings" into the book - I can't tell you how many times a character said "Well, you know what they say ---!" ... while the action scenes are written out relatively well, this book is only going to appeal to adults looking for "when i was a kid, we read shit like this" factor. It's got the same 'good old' appeal like Stand By Me and that first part of Stephen King's Dreamcatcher before shit gets weird. Kind of a snoozefest for a kid, if you ask me.
February 20, 2011
This book has just the right amount of adventure, danger and baseball for a 4th to 6th grader. Five friends (only one girl) set out to solve the puzzle of what happened to Jean Lafitte's treasure. They are betrayed by a boy they thought was a friend, then by an adult. They are destructive on more than one occasion, but it's apparently okay since they are the good guys. One child loses his life, but the others carry on with hardly a tear(he actually did not die). The book is very preachy and the message is not hidden in the story, it is stated outright. I think some of the words and phrases are out-dated, and I don't think kids now would like or maybe even know Elton John and the Jackson Five. The most troubling thing about the book is at the end when the only girl in the story, Jaq, changed from a "tomboy" to a girl in a dress to get the attention of one of the boys. She has a great arm, but can't play Little League baseball because it is boys only. She doesn't even settle for girls' softball??!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2014
A fun read in the spirit of an old-school Disney action/adventure flick. Life lessons and suspenseful moments abound.
May 11, 2020
This is not a very good book in my opinion, for many reasons.
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July 5, 2021
Trigger & Content Warnings
Explosion
Vivisepulture (buried alive in a cave)
Animal death
Animal death & poaching
Explosion
Vivisepulture (buried alive in a cave)
Animal death
Animal death & poaching
October 8, 2012
Positive Points
The story is engaging, filled with suspense and action, twists and turns, friendships and betrayals. There's something about hidden treasures that's very appealing to both kids and adults. Looking for clues, finding parts of a map, figuring out where it could be... all that makes for a great plot. I could easily see this story made into a movie.
This book teaches values and lessons of life, such as self confidence and accepting our differences, although at times I was hearing more the author's voice than the character's voice. It felt like the author had written that book specifically to teach lessons to kids, which may be frowned upon by today's book industry. I still think the lessons in this book were good and made it stand out from other books that are purely entertaining. I like books that leave me thinking about deeper values.
The characters are unique and believable. I could easily picture them in my mind. Each has a distinctive voice and personality. Scooter and some of his friends go through character growth during the novel and become a little different by the time the story is over, which is always good.
The illustrations, the feel of the book, the pages with uneven margins all made the whole reading experience very enjoyable. I love my Kindle, but nothing beats the feel and smell of a good paper book. I bought it from the author's website, and it came as an autographed hard covered copy, along with several bookmarks, stickers, postcards, and a poster. Nice bonus. I wasn't expecting that!
Negative Points
This book has way too much telling for my taste. The plot is often stalled with details about each character that are not essential to the story. The story could have been written a lot tighter, to my opinion. Still, some of these details made me laugh or gave me a better picture of who the characters were, so it's not all that bad.
The story is written in first person POV, but Scooter is able to read other people's minds or know exactly how they feel, somehow. I would understand if it was an omniscient POV, but this is first person. Scooter knows his friends very well, I know, but it appeared to me as being a case of POV shift.
At times, the main character sounds a lot older than his age and talks about concepts thirteen-year-old boys don't normally care about or understand yet. Unless he's very mature for his age, which is always possible.
What makes this book unique
It's about a treasure hunt, and it's about kids with unique characteristics they learn to accept and appreciate. Their own personal treasures.
Overall Impression
Good read! I just wish it had been written a little tighter, and with less POV shifts, but it's still a great read. If you like treasure hunts, this book is for you! I would give it three and half stars, but since I don't have half stars, I'll be generous and give it a four. Just because the story was awesome.
The story is engaging, filled with suspense and action, twists and turns, friendships and betrayals. There's something about hidden treasures that's very appealing to both kids and adults. Looking for clues, finding parts of a map, figuring out where it could be... all that makes for a great plot. I could easily see this story made into a movie.
This book teaches values and lessons of life, such as self confidence and accepting our differences, although at times I was hearing more the author's voice than the character's voice. It felt like the author had written that book specifically to teach lessons to kids, which may be frowned upon by today's book industry. I still think the lessons in this book were good and made it stand out from other books that are purely entertaining. I like books that leave me thinking about deeper values.
The characters are unique and believable. I could easily picture them in my mind. Each has a distinctive voice and personality. Scooter and some of his friends go through character growth during the novel and become a little different by the time the story is over, which is always good.
The illustrations, the feel of the book, the pages with uneven margins all made the whole reading experience very enjoyable. I love my Kindle, but nothing beats the feel and smell of a good paper book. I bought it from the author's website, and it came as an autographed hard covered copy, along with several bookmarks, stickers, postcards, and a poster. Nice bonus. I wasn't expecting that!
Negative Points
This book has way too much telling for my taste. The plot is often stalled with details about each character that are not essential to the story. The story could have been written a lot tighter, to my opinion. Still, some of these details made me laugh or gave me a better picture of who the characters were, so it's not all that bad.
The story is written in first person POV, but Scooter is able to read other people's minds or know exactly how they feel, somehow. I would understand if it was an omniscient POV, but this is first person. Scooter knows his friends very well, I know, but it appeared to me as being a case of POV shift.
At times, the main character sounds a lot older than his age and talks about concepts thirteen-year-old boys don't normally care about or understand yet. Unless he's very mature for his age, which is always possible.
What makes this book unique
It's about a treasure hunt, and it's about kids with unique characteristics they learn to accept and appreciate. Their own personal treasures.
Overall Impression
Good read! I just wish it had been written a little tighter, and with less POV shifts, but it's still a great read. If you like treasure hunts, this book is for you! I would give it three and half stars, but since I don't have half stars, I'll be generous and give it a four. Just because the story was awesome.
February 8, 2011
*warning* minor spoiler at the end of the third paragraph.
I have mixed feelings on this book and cannot decide if the problem lies with the book or with the fact that I'm not exactly it's target audience. Told from the POV of a 13 year old boy in the 70's who embarks on a treasure hunt with 5 of his friends, this book is littered with life lessons and a whole lot of baseball! Having never been a 13 year old boy and having no interest in baseball, it was often hard to relate to and I found the characters more annoying than likable - but again this could have more to do with my demographic than the book.
At the heart of this book is a pretty good story - a treasure hunt which manages to be fairly realistic, like, "This could actually happen to you." But I can't decide if that's a good thing or not and I also can't decide if I think a 12 year old boy would like this or not - would they find the "life lessons" corny or insightful? I'm not sure. I suppose it depends on the boy.
The mother in me often cringed at the "adventures" that these boys walked into. I suppose reading it as a kid, it might not have seemed so glaringly dumb to constantly throw themselves into danger - but the mother in me refused to keep quiet while reading this, wondering if the author was doing enough to discourage the kids reading the book from getting into the shenanigans that the characters kept walking into. He did consistently say things like, "Wow in retrospect that was really dangerous and this is what I normally do to stay out of trouble and [insert philosophical waxing on about a subject that I personally doubt 13 year olds think about very much but maybe I'm being cynical in thinking so]," but the point is, nobody gets seriously hurt in this book, despite a few close (very close) calls and I could see that being all that the kids take away from this. But maybe I'll feel less skittish about this when I've successfully raised a couple teenagers of my own.
The bottom line is, I found this book a little ... over the top. Life lessons were sort of beat into you with a sledge hammer of repetitiveness and the language often seemed way over the head of their target audience in my opinion (again I could be wrong) and at the end of the day, I just barely made my way through the book without putting it down altogether. That said, I can think of a few books that I read and loved as a kid that I've tried to reread since and found them to be pure garbage (::cough::babysittersclub::cough::) and that could very well be the case here. What I really need is a 12 year old boy to read this book (or try to read it) and prove me right or wrong.
I have mixed feelings on this book and cannot decide if the problem lies with the book or with the fact that I'm not exactly it's target audience. Told from the POV of a 13 year old boy in the 70's who embarks on a treasure hunt with 5 of his friends, this book is littered with life lessons and a whole lot of baseball! Having never been a 13 year old boy and having no interest in baseball, it was often hard to relate to and I found the characters more annoying than likable - but again this could have more to do with my demographic than the book.
At the heart of this book is a pretty good story - a treasure hunt which manages to be fairly realistic, like, "This could actually happen to you." But I can't decide if that's a good thing or not and I also can't decide if I think a 12 year old boy would like this or not - would they find the "life lessons" corny or insightful? I'm not sure. I suppose it depends on the boy.
The mother in me often cringed at the "adventures" that these boys walked into. I suppose reading it as a kid, it might not have seemed so glaringly dumb to constantly throw themselves into danger - but the mother in me refused to keep quiet while reading this, wondering if the author was doing enough to discourage the kids reading the book from getting into the shenanigans that the characters kept walking into. He did consistently say things like, "Wow in retrospect that was really dangerous and this is what I normally do to stay out of trouble and [insert philosophical waxing on about a subject that I personally doubt 13 year olds think about very much but maybe I'm being cynical in thinking so]," but the point is, nobody gets seriously hurt in this book, despite a few close (very close) calls and I could see that being all that the kids take away from this. But maybe I'll feel less skittish about this when I've successfully raised a couple teenagers of my own.
The bottom line is, I found this book a little ... over the top. Life lessons were sort of beat into you with a sledge hammer of repetitiveness and the language often seemed way over the head of their target audience in my opinion (again I could be wrong) and at the end of the day, I just barely made my way through the book without putting it down altogether. That said, I can think of a few books that I read and loved as a kid that I've tried to reread since and found them to be pure garbage (::cough::babysittersclub::cough::) and that could very well be the case here. What I really need is a 12 year old boy to read this book (or try to read it) and prove me right or wrong.
January 31, 2011
Sweetwater Taffy: Young Adult / Middle Grade fiction.
Saltwater Taffy follows the lives of five friends as they uncover a treasure map that once belonged to the ruthless New Orleans pirate, Jean Lafitte. The discovery thrusts them from one treasure hunting adventure to the next as they try to out-wit, out-think and out-maneuver everyone from the one-legged junk-yard man and an overbearing town bully, to the creepy old man living at the top of the hill. Saltwater Taffy is a race to-the-finish adventure that grabs the reader and never lets go.
I may not be a young adult, but I enjoy the freedom of reading this kinda fiction. It is relaxing and fun to jump off on an adventure like this. I found it interesting that the author, Eric DelaBarre, also writes on the Law & Order shows. And that the illustrator, R. C. Nason, works with Hallmark and 20th Century Fox. It is also wonderful that Eric DelaBarre is currently on a Great Give Away book tour to over 10 cities visiting to speak and give away his book to schools in need and youth centers including: Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, The United Way, Gary Sinise and The Snowball Express, and Wonderland PTA
Saltwater Taffy follows the lives of five friends as they uncover a treasure map that once belonged to the ruthless New Orleans pirate, Jean Lafitte. The discovery thrusts them from one treasure hunting adventure to the next as they try to out-wit, out-think and out-maneuver everyone from the one-legged junk-yard man and an overbearing town bully, to the creepy old man living at the top of the hill. Saltwater Taffy is a race to-the-finish adventure that grabs the reader and never lets go.
I may not be a young adult, but I enjoy the freedom of reading this kinda fiction. It is relaxing and fun to jump off on an adventure like this. I found it interesting that the author, Eric DelaBarre, also writes on the Law & Order shows. And that the illustrator, R. C. Nason, works with Hallmark and 20th Century Fox. It is also wonderful that Eric DelaBarre is currently on a Great Give Away book tour to over 10 cities visiting to speak and give away his book to schools in need and youth centers including: Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, The United Way, Gary Sinise and The Snowball Express, and Wonderland PTA
April 28, 2011
I adored the life lessons! A wonderful approach when writing for pre-teens. Scooter, the protage, was angry at all the right times. I had two problems with the story. First, pirates are not nice folks, and this work continues to glorify them. Second, The kids lived in Port Townsend, yet strolled along the Dungeness River on the way home from school. Sorry, that river is three peninsulas away, and about thirty miles.
October 10, 2013
This novel follows a group of boys and one girl who are chasing clues to find treasure belonging to the pirate LaFitte. Students will recognize some of their own friends among the characters. Each chapter ends with some pearls of wisdom that have been garnered by the narrator. An okay book, but it was predictable and fell a little flat. I'm having trouble getting this book into the right student's hands.
September 25, 2011
Great book! My son's "Guys Read" book group read this book and had a Skype meeting with the author. Eric DelaBarre shares meaningful, positive, and wonderful insights throughout the book. Excellent book to read with your children and when you start to read it with them you will know why. Great book to have in your home library and a perfect book to give as a gift!
November 22, 2011
Pirates, adventure, humor, and a lot of positive character virtues thrown in.
June 3, 2013
Good fun!
January 30, 2014
A good book for young readers. The only part I didn't like was a small part in the book was very anti hunting.
October 26, 2016
Good book especially for pre-teens and young teens. Enjoyable read for everybody. Adventure and hidden pirates treasure. Exciting dangers. Good points made about friendship and self-esteem.
March 12, 2013
Great adventure story for everyone!
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November 11, 2017Saltwater Taffy, by Eric Delabarre
How would I use this book in my classroom: I would use this book in my classroom in order to introduce the signpost words of the wiser. Beginning in chapter 7 there is something called a “treasure tip” at the end of each chapter. One of them states, “You have to be willing to go the extra mile.” This would be a great book for readers who are struggling with the signpost words of the wiser. Furthermore, this book presents situations where the signpost tough questions could be taught. For example, at one point they believe their friend had been washed away by the river and one of the boys begins to wonder how they will tell his mom.
How would I use this book in my classroom: I would use this book in my classroom in order to introduce the signpost words of the wiser. Beginning in chapter 7 there is something called a “treasure tip” at the end of each chapter. One of them states, “You have to be willing to go the extra mile.” This would be a great book for readers who are struggling with the signpost words of the wiser. Furthermore, this book presents situations where the signpost tough questions could be taught. For example, at one point they believe their friend had been washed away by the river and one of the boys begins to wonder how they will tell his mom.
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October 27, 2018There is nothing lacking in this story of baseball, summer vacation, pirate treasure, and adventure. Although this is largely a cast of boys, girls will enjoy it, too.
This is an exceptional choice for high interest/low readability audiences. Read more at the Reading Tub.
This is an exceptional choice for high interest/low readability audiences. Read more at the Reading Tub.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews