The Treasure Hunt

Amish Frontier #2

by Rebecca Martin

The Yoder family packs up and moves once again—this time to join other Amish families in Colorado where inexpensive farmland is plentiful. Despite the drought, Mother's illness, and a raging wildfire, the family quickly adapts to life in their new homeland. Along the way young Joe, intrigued with the exciting stories of the area's gold rush and dreaming of an easier life, tries his hand at gold panning. One adventure leads to another, but it's the chance meeting with an older gentleman—who had panned for gold most of his life—in which Joe learns some of life's truly golden lessons. Together, the old man and the boy discover real treasure. Based on actual events from a time long ago, this unforgettable story from the Amish Frontier Series, perfect for ages 8 to 12, brings to life the Yoder family's struggle to live a life of faith on the Colorado frontier.

Genres: Amish

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2015

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.


Rebecca Martin is a mother of four children, wife of Cleon, and author of numerous books. She and Cleon are members of the Old Order Mennonite Church, semi-retired, and together they enjoy helping their married children. Rebecca also enjoys quilting as a pastime.

Reviews

[Tien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't say that I'm enamoured with this series but the 10yo surprised me by asking about the next book in the series! He wanted to know what happens with the next Yoder generation...

The Treasure Hunt being book 2 in the Amish Frontier series has 2 different protagonists than the first book. And most surprising of all, it is set about 13 years after book 1 so those protagonists from book 1, Ben and Polly, are married and having kids. That jarred my system somewhat. In this book, we have 11yo Lydia and 14yo Joe, Ben's & Polly's youngest siblings who weren't even born in book 1 yet.

Following the same structure though, each chapter could stand on their own so this is a book of interconnected short stories that span over a year of the Yoder family journey as they, once again, uprooted themselves and moved from North Dakota to Colorado. As always, money is tight and crops failed again and again however the family is as steadfast as ever in their faith. It is possibly a timely reminder for our own uncertain time.

[Amanda Matthews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually try to rate children's books in consideration of the genre, but this one was just difficult for me to get through. I probably would have liked it when I was eight. There wasn't much of an exact plot, it started following Lydia then skipped around to following Joe, and even Father at one point. Some of the things that happened seemed to be an afterthought. I *do* try hard to turn off my writer's brain when reading, but I couldn't for this one, and I know that affected my enjoyability of it.

There were good things in this book, though. It mentioned Jesus Christ as the way to salvation. There were Scripture verses quoted, and parents who strove to raise their children correctly. It is Amish, but there didn't seem to be a strong emphasis on the Amish faith as opposed to living by the Bible.

In reality, there is nothing in this book that keeps me from handing it to all of my younger siblings. I just didn't find it super enjoyable or the best quality.

[Kathy Maher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This shows the life of an Amish family in the 1800's moving to Colorado to make a new life.

"Remember what Father always says, even though you may have a reason for behaving badly, that is still no excuse."

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wholesome story for young people.