Treasure Island: Runaway Gold

Ages 10 And Up, Grades 5 And Up

Bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes reimagines the classic novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson in this thrilling adventure set in modern-day Manhattan, in which three kids must navigate the city’s hidden history, dodge a threatening crew of skater kids, and decide who they can really trust in order to hunt down a long-buried treasure. 

Three kids. One dog. And the island of Manhattan, laid out in an old treasure map…Zane is itching for an adventure that will take him away from his family’s boarding house in Rockaway, Queens. So when he is entrusted with a real treasure map, leading to a spot somewhere in Manhattan, Zane wastes no time in riding the ferry over to the city to start the search with his friends Kiko and Jack and his dog, Hip-Hop.Through strange coincidence, they meet a man who is eager to help them find the treasure: John, a sailor who knows all about the buried history of Black New Yorkers of centuries past—and the gold that is hidden somewhere in those stories.As a vicious rival skateboard crew follows them around the city, Zane and his friends begin to wonder who they can really trust. And soon it becomes clear that treasure hunting is a dangerous business…Jewell Parker Rhodes, a distinguished author and professor, is known for her books for young people that make Black history come alive. This updated Treasure Island is well researched, smart, and fast paced. Children will enjoy reading the book, and, at the same time, they will learn about the history of the Black residents of Manhattan—free and enslaved alike. An important book by an acclaimed author!

About the Author

Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for youth, including Ghost Boys, Black Brother, Black Brother, Paradise on Fire, Towers Falling, and the Louisiana Girls Trilogy: Ninth Ward, Sugar, and Bayou Magic. She is the recipient of many distinguished awards, including the Coretta Scott King Honor, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, an NAACP Image Award nomination, and the Walter Award. Rhodes is the Virginia G. Piper Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at Arizona State University.