The Treasure of Maria Mamoun

May 9, 2016
Adult author Chalfoun’s (The Width of the Sea) first book for children opens in a gritty section of the Bronx, where 12-year-old Maria Theresa Ramirez Mamoun (her mother is Lebanese-American, her absentee father Puerto Rican) lives with her single mother, Celeste, who works two nursing jobs to support them. Friendless and solitary, Maria is regularly taunted at school by the “Bad Barbies,” and one violent bullying episode impels Celeste to find a job as private nurse to a bedridden film director on Martha’s Vineyard. Arriving on the island, Maria transforms—a little too quickly and easily—into an adventurous and secretive girl with a mission: to find the buried treasure promised by the old privateer’s map she has discovered. She befriends the housekeeper’s wayward son, Paolo; warms up the crusty director; cleans up an old sailboat; and takes on the unfamiliar waters, first in a rowboat and eventually, with Paolo’s help, in a sailboat. The plot builds smoothly and suspensefully as Maria puzzles over mysterious clues, and the happy, if somewhat predictable, ending is warmly satisfying. Ages 8–12. Author’s agency: Mary Evans, Inc.

April 15, 2016
It's hard to explain why this book feels quite as old-fashioned as it does.The treasure hunt is a reliable plot device. It's been used in Treasure Island and episodes of Scooby-Doo. But it seems jarring here, maybe because the rest of the book feels so modern. Maria Mamoun, a Lebanese-Puerto Rican girl, lives in a New York that actually resembles New York, with an "America, Spanish, and Middle Eastern Grocery," mean girls, and a mother who works two jobs. But when Maria and her mother move to Martha's Vineyard (where they're one of the few nonwhite families), Maria discovers an old parchment map with cryptic clues on the bottom. This is where the plot device becomes a problem: if there's buried treasure on Martha's Vineyard, the book will feel hokey and contrived. If there isn't, the ending will feel like a disappointment. The climax of the story turns out to be logical but not quite satisfying. That's partly because it's telegraphed in advance but mostly because Chalfoun has relied on another old device: the sitcom plot. If the characters ever actually talked to each other about the rash decisions they were making, the story would fall apart.The plot mechanics may not hold up to scrutiny, but the puzzles are clever, and Maria's adventures are genuinely thrilling; that sort of storytelling never gets old. (Fiction. 8-12)

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April 1, 2016

Gr 4-7-A city girl moves to an island and finds her true place in the world. Twelve-year-old Maria Mamoun has never met her father, her mother works long hours at two nursing jobs, and Maria's chief entertainment is watching the birds and flowering weeds in the vacant lot across from her dingy Bronx apartment. But after bullying classmates attack Maria, her mother takes a new position as a personal nurse to an elderly film director living on Martha's Vineyard. The protagonist soon uncovers a mystery involving pirates, hidden treasure, and possibly the enigmatic film director himself. Chalfoun's deft prose captures the glories of the New England oceanside, and her well-portrayed major characters change and grow throughout the narrative. The author draws on her own experiences for well-integrated details of the heroine's half-Lebanese background. Although unfamiliar sailing terms are defined in the text, a glossary would have been a helpful addition. The tale wraps up a bit quickly, but happy endings all around fit well within this slightly old-fashioned tale, and Maria's blossoming connections with a large local family and the island itself prove to be the true treasure of the title. VERDICT Readers who enjoyed Jeanne Birdsall's "Penderwicks" series and Elizabeth Enright's "Gone Away Lake" books will appreciate this satisfying summer adventure.-Beth Wright Redford, Richmond Elementary School Library, VT

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