Danger Guys and the Golden Lizard

Danger Guys #6

by Tony Abbott, Joanne Scribner (Illustrations)

In this sixth adventure, our Indiana Jones style heroes set off on a treasure hunt deep in the jungles of Central America. The Guys are determined to find the precious Golden Lizard—even if they have to fight off man-eating plants and hungry alligators to do it. But are they ready for a gang of treasure-seeking thugs? ALA Booklist said of the first two books in the series, ‘If third graders could write adventure books, they might have written these. . . Struggling new readers will find these books exciting.’

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Tony Abbott (born 1952) is an American author of children's books. His most popular work is the book series The Secrets of Droon, which includes over 40 books. He has sold over 12 million copies of his books and they have been translated into several other languages, including Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. He has also written the bestseller Firegirl.

Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952. His father was a university professor and had an extensive library of books which became one of Abbott's first sources of literature. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Connecticut where he went through elementary school and high school.

Abbott attended the University of Connecticut, and after studying both music and psychology, decided to study English and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He attended the workshops of Patricia Reilly Giff to further develop his writing after college.

Abbott currently lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs. Tony had one brother and two sisters.

Reviews

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two Thumbs Up!!

This is the sixth, and currently the last, of the books in the Danger Guys series. I'll be sorry to see Noodle and Zeke go if this is the last one. The books have gotten better as the series has progressed, and this struck me as the best one yet.

These are chapter books, with short chapters, punchy and direct writing, a super fast pace, a clear plot, and bunches of jokey age-appropriate humor. Unlike many books aimed at the same demo they don't turn at all on barf, farts, boogers or any toilet humor. They are kid sized Indiana Jones adventure/humor books, with over-the-top plots and lots of barely plausible hero action.

In this one we are off to the jungle, and have to survive a plane crash into the tree tops, swamps, man eating plants, a maze, some booby traps, and a host of bumbling villains. In short, just another normal adventure for the Danger Guys.

Apart from the action I like these books because of the strong, loyal, and reliable bond between the two Danger Guy pals. They always look out for each other, and teamwork is primo. No angst and no snark and no drama. These are Guys who look for Danger, and meet challenges head on. Of course it's all a bit silly, but Noodle and Zeke sell it and make it exciting and fun. It may work because our author never tries to have it both ways with irony, or by mocking his own material. This is straight ahead, straight up gung ho stuff, and the enthusiasm is contagious and drives the reader from page to page. I'm not sure what more you could want from a mid-level chapter book.

(Please note that I found this book a while ago while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

One dark, moonless night during a special reconnaissance mission, Noodle and Zeek dodge the skylights and exhaust pipes sticking out of the school roof and slide down a rope to recover a very important paper from their classroom. With the mission accomplished, they drop on to the school stage just in time to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Emerson, the greatest explorers in the world. The famous team is there to participate in Mayville School’s Evening Lecture Series. The Emersons announce that they will leave that very night for Maribo, a tiny country deep in the jungles of Central America. They are off to find the Golden Lizard, and, they are taking Zeek and Noodle with them. Just before the four explorers are due to fly off, six men in oily black suits kidnap the Emersons. Mr. Emerson gives the boys a slight shake of his head to warn them not to react in any way so the kidnappers won’t notice them. It wouldn’t be good for the Danger Guys and the treasure map to fall into the wrong hands. (The map is the important paper they recovered their classroom.) Noodle and Zeek decide to follow the Emersons and their captors to Maribo so they board the old, decrepit airplane that the Emersons hired. The plane crash lands a few miles from their destination, but no one is hurt. Fighting through the dense jungle foliage, the guys find Maribo City and some unexpected help. The Danger Guys race to find the Emersons and the Golden Lizard by staying one step ahead of the kidnappers. They escape man-eating plants and alligators, run a maze as if they were pouring syrup on a waffle, and discover that the Golden Lizard isn’t anything like they expected.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com