Danger Guys Hit the Beach

Danger Guys #4

by Tony Abbott, Joanne Scribner (Illustrations)

In Noodle and Zeke’s fourth adventure, a day at the beach turns out to be anything but dull. Their surfboard crash-lands on a haunted island and they find themselves face-to-face with sea captain’s ghost, a mysterious sunken treasure ship, and nasty gang of international thieves!

Genres: Childrens

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Tony Abbott (born 1952) is an American author of children's books. His most popular work is the book series The Secrets of Droon, which includes over 40 books. He has sold over 12 million copies of his books and they have been translated into several other languages, including Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. He has also written the bestseller Firegirl.

Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952. His father was a university professor and had an extensive library of books which became one of Abbott's first sources of literature. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Connecticut where he went through elementary school and high school.

Abbott attended the University of Connecticut, and after studying both music and psychology, decided to study English and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He attended the workshops of Patricia Reilly Giff to further develop his writing after college.

Abbott currently lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs. Tony had one brother and two sisters.

Reviews

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Exclamation Point at the End of Every Sentence!!

I'm a big fan of Noodle, (the brains), and Zeke, (the brawn), a/k/a "The Danger Guys". They are two best friends and teamwork is their middle name.
This is Book Four in what is currently a six book series, and like the other books it never lets up. The setup is always the same. Noodle and Zeke are somewhere, they look for adventure, they find it, and after loads of breathless, nutty, non-stop action, (insert exclamation points here), they end up safe, sound and heroic.

In this one they are at the beach, they pretend to be surfer dudes, they end up on a runaway speedboat, then an island, then a castaway's cabin, then they mix it up with villains, do really heroic stuff underwater, find some treasure, etc., etc. They fly, fall, sail, swim, dive, float, escape, lurk, escape again, duke it out, duke it out again, dismantle things, wave swords, avoid dart guns, and generally wing it, without ever stopping for breath.

The thing is that Abbott plays straight with his readers. He never mocks the guys, the silly plot, or his readers. There is no irony, no snarky asides, and no attempt to be too hip for the material. The Guys are gung-ho; they are smart, resourceful, loyal and dependable. They are Danger Guys!!! having great adventures. The pace is whirlwind, the dialogue is crisp and direct, the plots are antic but easy enough to follow, and the tone is upbeat and cheerful, without any awkward asides or sub-plots. I mean, gosh darn, the whole project is just likeable, from the characters to the plots to the action. I'm happy.

(Please note that I found this book while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. It is currently a kindleunlimited choice. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Danger Guys at the beach with no danger in sight is the epitome of boredom. Then, Noodle’s dad comes back with cheeseburgers and news that the surfers are all talking about something called the Golden Crest. Could it be a sunken treasure ship? At the Surfers Camp, Zeek and Noodle find out that the Golden Crest is a wave that comes from a barely visible island. They also find out about the “Ugly Dude”- a sea monster that lives near the island. While the Danger Guys talk to a surfer named Boomer, Zeek holds up Boomer’s ten foot surfboard. He loses control of the board which knocks both boys into a nearby motorboat. Zeek’s foot hits the motor’s “on” switch, and the Danger Guys are on their way to another dangerous adventure. At first, the switch is stuck so the motor can’t be turned off. Then, Zeek gives the motor a swift kick, and it stops working. So the Danger Guys are floating in the middle of the ocean when the boat springs a leak and begins to sink. And, if that isn’t bad enough, the “Ugly Dude” rears its slimy snout, bulging eyes, and snaky clawed arms at the very moment of this new crisis. Luckily, the ten foot surfboard fell on top of them when they landed in the boat. Zeek and Noodle use the board and a huge wave to get to the “barely visible” island. On the island, they find dangerous treasure hunters who are looking for Captain May’s gold and the Emersons who had been searching for Captain May’s shipwreck before the bad men arrived. How can the Danger Guys and the Emersons keep Mayville safe from the tidal wave the treasure hunters will create when they blow up Captain May’s ship?
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com