The Treasure Trap

by Virginia Masterman-Smith

Billy Beak's new neighbor convinces him to help her search a long-missing millionaire's mansion for treasure.

Genres: Mystery

200 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Woff · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great book fair find! This was awesome. I love books where there's like, a whole kids' community that operates beneath the knowledge & noses of adults. Such great characters, and all with such great names. Billy Beak, Junior Jennings, Tadpole Robertson, Bugsy Schmitt, etc - I want a whole book about Bugsy Schmitt!

[Cherise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was in the 4th grade and read it a zillion times. They made it into an after school movie with Christian Slater and I loved that, too. I recently found my old aging copy to give to my 3rd grader to read and he decided we should read it together. I am interested in seeing what I am going to think of it all these years later.

Had to laugh on the inside book cover is my name and 4th grade teachers name... Then i wrote "best book EVER!" lol

UPDATE:
Just finished reading this with my son... He really liked it, too. I had previously had this at a 5 star rating but after re-reading my son and I decided it is a 4. it's really good, but not perfect. There are some questions that never get answered and that really bugs me.

It's a good, fun read. I am glad I decided to relive my childhood a bit! :)

[Megan]

After thinking about this for a zillion years (16) yet forgetting the author and title, I finally found it by searching WorldCat for hours on end with various keywords ("treasure," "tree," "old men"). A journey to the ever-helpful Central Library confirmed my suspicions, and an Amazon purchase was made. I now have a beautiful ex-libris copy sitting happily upon my bookshelf.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in the early 80's when it became an ABC Weekend special. I loved this book as a kid! I get sentimental and read it every few years. I'm not sure if it would hold the same fascination for today's generation of youngsters, though. Thirty years ago, every kid had a creepy house on the block around which legends swirled - and that's what this book is about.