Young Indiana Jones and the Plantation Treasure

Young Indiana Jones #1

by William McCay

In the spring of 1913, a teenaged Indiana Jones traces the route of the Underground Railroad in search of a Southern plantation's treasure missing since the Civil War

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Young Adult, Action, Fantasy, Kids, Media Tie In

123 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1990

About the author

AKA Bill McCay

Reviews

[Mark]

the young Indiana Jones tv-show was meant as a teaching tool for youngsters to learn about history made attractive with a wee adventure. I watched these with my then daughters.
this book has undoubtely the same aim in teaching so this book is basically about the Underground Railroad, the means to whisk away slaven from the south into the north and Canada.
Indy gets involved when some men try to kidnap a young lady and hé saves her. Then follows a chase for treasure across America while being followed by the kidnappers while meeting people from the Underground Railway and explaining the history.

A nice little booklet which does the same as the tv-show, perhaps the subject remains touchy after all these years. But entertaining nonetheless.

[Christopher Rush]

An awkward opening to a series, about slavery and plantation life and the good guys are descendants of "kind hearted slave owners." Young Indy does very little except punch much older, stronger men and somehow keeps winning. Fortunately, the bad guys at the end do a typical '80s bad guy "oh, you caught us, and even though we outnumber you and are clearly stronger than you, we'll let you tie us up and hand us over to the police" wrap-up, so the good guys win, and the one brief character twist is forgotten because History is more important than Integrity.

[Ahdom]

Another fun mystery with Young Indy, this time in the Carolinas. As always, something always pulls Indy into another treasure hunting adventure. These books are all Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, but plenty of real history to them. It's a great combination! This book touches on Slavery and the Underground Railroad. I thought it was a very fun read, as can be expected.

[Peter Swenson]

When Lizzie Ravenall, gets word of the treasure that vanished from her family, she must go find it. However, criminals wanting the treasure are close behind. It's up to fourteen-year-old Indiana Jones to help her out. If you like books with adventure, you'd like this book.

[Sarah Stroud]

Not bad. Not amazing just bc the little white girl thinks her grandparents were good to slaves when having slaves in the first place was shitty. Other than that, the general story was okay. That one thing really bothered me though.

[Alfred Lorenzo Stine]

It was a good story although each time they found a lead on Harriet, it just seemed a little too convenient and unbelievable. Overall, the story had a lot of good action scenes. Young Indiana Jones is always involved in adventures.

[Blake]

(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)

I'm finally going through my physical tv, film etc. tie in library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.

I'm only adding one book per author and I'm not going to re-read every book to be more accurate, not when I have 1000s of new to me authors to try (I can't say no to free books....)


First time read the author's work?: Yes

Will you be reading more?: Yes

Would you recommend?: Yes


------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)

All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked

Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)

[Riley Jones]

This is technically the first of these Young Indiana Jones books, but the fourth chronologically. Indy finds himself in Washington DC after some adventures in the American Southwest, falls in love with a pretty girl, as is his wont, and then embarks on a rollicking adventure, natch. Oh, and learns some things incidentally, just like the reader is forced to.
In this case, Indy and his new friend Lizzie (along with the pretty-useless Professor Zachary Walton), follow the Underground Railroad in search of the titular Plantation Treasure, all the way up to Boston, implausibly hopeful of finding a former slave who has changed her name in the past 50-odd years. Do they find her? What do you think?!
The craziest thing about this story is how close Young Indy was (chronologically) to the civil war and the (technical) abolition of slavery, and the fact all of this is in living memory of many of the characters in the book.
Actually, the real craziest thing is how often Indy keeps coincidentally running into the bad guys. But how else would the story get resolved, otherwise? It wouldn’t, that’s how. Or it would, I don’t know.
Marcus Brody gets a mention, too, FTW (more to come)!

[Jude McAnelly]

Greetings, all! Having first encountered the Young Indy book series in my local library, I was excited to go back to the very beginning, with this first entry taking place shortly after the events of the beloved "Last Crusade" prologue.
In this adventure, Young Indy joins beautiful southern girl Lizzie Ravenall in the quest to find her lost family fortune before a ruthless rival. Mayhem ensues as they navigate Civil War history, pursuits, gunmen, collapsing tunnels, and a desperate train chase. Due to living with his book-absorbed father, fourteen-year-old Indy displays a surprising amount of the cynicism which defined the adult version of his character.
As with all memorable Indy content, the story exists because of historical research, as opposed to half-baked efforts with action for the sake of action. This makes the book a good learning experience as well as a thrill-ride.
Most important of all, if you are an evildoer trying to make off with artifacts that belong in a museum, do not let young Indiana Jones anywhere near a bullwhip.
Book appetite!

[John]

Typical YA stuff, but lacks the feel of a true Indiana Jones story. Writers like William McCay seem to think Indy can be shoehorned into any ole type of adventure, but if THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL taught us anything, it's that this is simply not the case. Indy has no business going up against aliens, nor should he be retracing the Underground Railroad looking for former slaves. Leave that to the Boxcar Children or something.
Additionally, the plotting here is predictable and dull, the action lackluster and boring. Again, it may appeal to undiscerning youngsters, but adults will have a hard time just making it past the cover art.

[Luís Castilho]

Another great "Young Indiana Jones" adventure. The very first one actually, taking place in the southern states of the USA in 1913. The adventure revolves around the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the USA during the early to mid-19th century, and used by African-American slaves to escape into free states and Canada. Very cool and interesting.

[Liam Coyne]

Even as a kid Indiana Jones was a great adventurer

[keira anne with an e]

Read this to see if it was appropriate for my little brother. I remember very, very little of it, so I'm not going to review it, and I don't plan on re-reading.

[erthlit]

Although the pacing was solid, i felt like the story lacked anything particularily compelling.
Wasnt the level of adventure i hoped for.

[Marcellus galloway]

it really good book to read.

[Zinger]

Couldn't help but pick up the first book when the kids while the kids were reading it. Not a bad book for early readers.

[Siyun]

*3.5*

[Martu]

It's a good story, and perfect if u want a light-reading