The Copper Treasure

by Melvin Burgess

From the critically acclaimed and best-selling author of Smack comes a
middle-grade tale of adventure and cunning in the spirit of Treasure Island

Victorian London in the 1850' Jamie, Ten Tons and Davies are young "mudlarks"--scavengers who eke out a meager existence by reclaiming bits of coal, rope, and anything of value from the muddy banks of the River Thames. Anything they find might keep them from starving for one more day.
When they see a massive roll of copper fall off a ship, the trio comes up with a daring plan to retrieve it and make their fortunes. But can three small boys alone retrieve the impossibly heavy copper from the bottom of the Thames? They resolve to find a way--or die trying.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

112 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 1999

About the author

Melvin Burgess is a British author of children's fiction. His first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. He gained a certain amount of notoriety in 1996 with the publication of Junk, which was published in the shadow of the film of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, and dealt with the trendy and controversial idea of heroin-addicted teenagers. Junk soon became, at least in Britain, one of the best-known children's books of the decade.

Burgess again courted predictable controversy in 2003, with the publication of Doing It, which dealt with underage sex. America created a show based on the book, Life As We Know It. In his other books, such as Bloodtide and The Ghost Behind the Wall, Burgess has dealt with less realist and sometimes fantastic themes. In 2001 Burgess wrote the novelisation of the film Billy Elliot, based on Lee Hall's screenplay. Polyphony is typical for his most famous novels.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/melvin...

Reviews

[Kristen Scelonge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade/Interest Level:Middle School (Grades 6-8)
Reading Level: Lexile 630L
Genre:Historical Fiction

Main Characters: Jamie, Ten Tons, and Davies
Setting: Vicotrian London 1850's
POV: The boys (Jamie, Ten Tons, and Davies)

Jamie, Ten Tons and Davies are young men known as "mudlarks.” “Mudlarks” are defined as scavengers who live a meager financial existence by reclaiming bits of coal, rope, and anything of value from the muddy banks of the River Thames. The boys will scavenge anything to keep themselves from starvation. When they see a massive roll of copper fall off a ship, the three “mudlarks” devise a risky plan to steal the copper and make it part of their own fortunes. The complications in this story occur when these three young men realize they can not retrieve the heavy copper from the bottom of the Thames on their own. They decide together as a trio that they will get the copper somehow even if they have to die trying to do it.

I would use this book in my classroom as a read aloud to teach students about the Victorian times of London in the 1850’s. By reading this story students would get a sense of the times and realize that during this time for these boys they needed to commit crimes and steal in order to survive. I would use this book as an example to parallel students’ current lives and ask them to compare themselves to the three “mudlarks” in the story. The boys in this story are similar in age to the class I would read this to so I feel the students would be able to come up with several similarities as well as differences.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the banks of the River Thames in 1850’s London, many people struggle to survive. Picking up pieces of coal, rope, or wood from the river banks and turning them in for a few pennies is all that prevents families from starving. This is the bleak existence that Jamie lives as he toils to help his parents support his many siblings. Although his life is rough, it is worse for his two friends, Davies and Ten Tons, who are homeless orphans that need to steal from docked ships in order to feed themselves.

The lives of the three boys will change dramatically when they come across something that could make them rich! It seems that the copper treasure will be out of their reach until an accident on the boat sends the copper over the edge and into the muddy water. When no one else can find a way to retrieve the valuable (and extremely heavy) metal from the river bottom, the boys concoct a plan to bring up the roll and to sell it. However, their seemingly simple plan takes an unexpected turn, and the treasure ends up costing the young scavengers more than just a few nights sleep.

[Miss Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

gr 4-6 102 pgs

1850s London. Three friends: 11 year old Jaimie, who scavenges to earn money for his family, and orphans Ten Tons and Davies can't believe their luck when they find a huge sheet of copper. With the money they could earn from selling it, they dream of getting a berth on a ship and sailing the world. After the sheet of copper gets away from them and sinks into the Thames, they are determined to find a way to recover it despite the dangers.

Interesting, but sad.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful!