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The Adventures of Samuel Oliver
The Ancient Cave
The Oliver family take time away to explore an ancient cave. Samuel's father is keen on showing Samuel the cave, as his own father had done for him. The icy ascent to the cave's mouth is dangerous. Then the Olivers must endure a frigid swim. What treasures does the ancient cave hold for Samuel? Aligned to Common Core standards and correlated to state standards. Spellbound is an imprint of Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO.
48 pages, ebook
Published December 15, 2018
10 people want to read
About the author
Taylor Zajonc
10 books57 followersWinner, 2018 Clive Cussler "Grandmaster" Adventure Writers Competition
Finalist, 2019 Oregon Book Awards / Ken Kesey Award for Fiction
As an award-winning novelist, maritime historian, Explorers Club member, and deep-sea shipwreck expert, Taylor Zajonc's real-life adventures nearly exceed those of his fictional counterparts. His fascination with exploration began when he joined a Russian expedition to the deepest archaeological site on the planet, descending nearly three miles into the abyss of the Bermuda Triangle aboard a Soviet-era submersible. Since then, Taylor has joined two RMS Titanic expeditions and contributed to some of the most important shipwreck finds of the past decade, including World War II treasure ships and U-boats, Admiral Balchen's HMS Victory, and the treasure steamship SS Connaught. His novels include THE WRECKING CREW (Blank Slate 2016), RED SUN ROGUE (Blank Slate 2017), and THE MAW (Skyhorse 2018).
Finalist, 2019 Oregon Book Awards / Ken Kesey Award for Fiction
As an award-winning novelist, maritime historian, Explorers Club member, and deep-sea shipwreck expert, Taylor Zajonc's real-life adventures nearly exceed those of his fictional counterparts. His fascination with exploration began when he joined a Russian expedition to the deepest archaeological site on the planet, descending nearly three miles into the abyss of the Bermuda Triangle aboard a Soviet-era submersible. Since then, Taylor has joined two RMS Titanic expeditions and contributed to some of the most important shipwreck finds of the past decade, including World War II treasure ships and U-boats, Admiral Balchen's HMS Victory, and the treasure steamship SS Connaught. His novels include THE WRECKING CREW (Blank Slate 2016), RED SUN ROGUE (Blank Slate 2017), and THE MAW (Skyhorse 2018).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 25, 2019
The Ancient Cave is first in a series featuring Samuel Oliver. In this story he climbs a mountain with his father and uncle and then dives to explore an ice cave with his father.
The first few times I read this book I went back and forth between loving the vocabulary and the calligrams to thinking “why does the climbing and diving equipment look vintage”? Extremely confused I finally did some research on the book using the ABDO website to find out it is supposed to be set during the Great War. Now it makes sense!
I still have mixed feelings about this book. There are lots of things I loved including the family connection that Samuel’s grandfather had shown Samuel’s father the cave when he young, the vocabulary and the calligrams which I feel will appeal to reluctant readers. The illustrations fit with the time period, the diving suits for example, but there’s no mention of the year or era. Some readers may notice and some may not. I also wonder what happened to the uncle after they dived in the ice cave. Why was he in the beginning of the story but then left alone?
I would like to read the rest of the series but I feel for the price this will be an optional purchase for most schools and libraries.
The first few times I read this book I went back and forth between loving the vocabulary and the calligrams to thinking “why does the climbing and diving equipment look vintage”? Extremely confused I finally did some research on the book using the ABDO website to find out it is supposed to be set during the Great War. Now it makes sense!
I still have mixed feelings about this book. There are lots of things I loved including the family connection that Samuel’s grandfather had shown Samuel’s father the cave when he young, the vocabulary and the calligrams which I feel will appeal to reluctant readers. The illustrations fit with the time period, the diving suits for example, but there’s no mention of the year or era. Some readers may notice and some may not. I also wonder what happened to the uncle after they dived in the ice cave. Why was he in the beginning of the story but then left alone?
I would like to read the rest of the series but I feel for the price this will be an optional purchase for most schools and libraries.
Displaying 1 of 1 review