The Clues to Kusachuma

by Adam B. Ford

While vacationing, twins Allan and Allison discover a complex treasure hunt in their uncle's big mysterious house. As the the treasure hunt progresses, each clue brings challenges and danger. The kids make friends and enemies, learn secrets about their family’s past, and discover strange new places and a world that they never knew existed.

Genres: Childrens

165 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2018

About the author

Adam was born and did stuff and went to school and graduated from college and did more stuff and one day started writing.

Reviews

[Cookie M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Fun Adventure For Kids to Share With Their Parents

My husband and I continued the tradition of reading aloud with our children until they were grown and gone. We were always looking for books we could share as a family.
As science fiction/fantasy/adventure story lovers we loved books that incorporated these elements with situations close to real life.
"The Clues to Kusachuma" is such a book. The characters are realistic, the setting is inviting, the sense of wonder keeps you wanting to solve the mystery with the kids.
I was struck by the developing independence of the children, and the worry of the parents to let the kids explore on their own, especially when mishaps occured.
If there is a fault to be found with this book it is that the end was too rushed. The story flowed along nicely to a point, when, suddenly, " Sorry kids. Vacation is over. Here's the solution to the puzzle. All done."I
The possibility of a series is, while not overtly mentioned, left open.

I received this book free in exchange for an honest review from Goodreads and the publisher.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this in a giveaway. It was very enjoyable.

[Hayden Wier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the first book I have won in a giveaway and I liked the ending.

[Caressa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Clues to Kushachuma is a, at times serious and even a little science fiction, scavenger hunt story. The story follows twins, Allan and Allison, on their larger than life scavenger hunt on their summer vacation at their uncle's fantastical ranch. Along their journey, the twins make new friends, enemies, face great perils, and find more than they ever imagined possible.
TCTK was a fun read, at times unsure of its genre, shifting between quite serious undertones and fun, fantastical clues and adventures. The story had a very sweet conclusion, in ways, and the story was an interesting, larger than life adventure.
While at times the story was poor with pacing and jolting with the shifts in genre, it is still an interesting and fun read for the fan of the scavanger hunt novel.

[Adam Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wrote it!

[Jaime K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this in a goodreads giveaway.

Allan and his twin sister Allison join their parents on a trip to their uncle Bug’s house in the mountains. I don’t think we ever get the ages of the children, though I peg them to be about 12.
I do find it annoying that the “Als” have a father named Addison and that Bug’s rel name is Adam. I’m glad that Ford made the mother’s name to be Colleen.

I was horrified though that Colleen called her children monsters! Teachers don’t think that way and it wasn’t all that obvious she was teasing them.

I’m very glad that Ford explained he doesn’t like to capitalize the letter ‘i’ at the beginning because it would have made my eye twitchy. While I don’t subscribe to his thinking, i understand it.

Some of the dialogue and prose were repetitious. The adults were consistently referred to as “grown-ups,” which works for a 12-year-old mentality, I guess.

Other than that though, it really is a decent book. The context about Bug’s NEW home is good, and it’s obvious he is an interesting yet realistic character. The nooks and crannies and levels of the house are neat...though I do find it weird that each has a separate basement [and attic] system. But the reason for that is revealed!
The secret passages and hidden doors are beyond nifty.

I felt a little old with the twins’ reactions to some outdated technologies.

Corey, a local boy Allan and Allison’s age, is annoying. It bothers me that Allan doesn’t see it at first, especially after Corey’s obviously a bit sadistic.
His brother Kyle is cool.
I do find it adorable that the two call the other kids “friends,” even after having known each other for a few hours.

Bug essentially leads the twins on a treasure hunt, leaving clues all over. I freaking LOVE the math involved. Order of operations! Fibonacci sequence! Math!

Kusachuma is a water dragon, a mythological protector of underground rivers of Mt. Juka.

What I particularly like about Allan and Allison is that they act like KIDS who respect their parents. They’re unwittingly roped into family games; they ask permission to sign something.

The end is very obviously opening up for a sequel.

[CMAC · Rating 3 out of 5]

PROS:
- Good storyline.
- The dialogue unbelievable in some parts, but that's okay for a young adult book.
- There were scattered 'life lessons' throughout the book on how to be a better person.
- I enjoyed figuring out some of the hints in the scavenger hunt.

CONS:
- Some hints there was no chance you'd figure out because you were not given the information before hand.
- The refusal to capitalize the letter I.

This last point REALLY bothered me. There was a note in the beginning, probably to say it was on purpose and not the editor's fault, but that just added fuel to the fire for me. To ignore a very basic rule of grammar because you don't agree blows my mind. I think this is especially unacceptable for a young adult book. The kids reading this are having a hard enough time trying to figure out the rules of the English language and now they have a book saying don't bother. This annoyed me so much I had a hard time reading the book because I was on a constant lookout for additional errors.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this e-book free through Goodreads First Read.

A fun mystery with an interesting twist at the end. Perfect for middle school students who like mystery or puzzle stories. I really liked the different characters (except for one) and all the secrets.

[Olivia Hutchings · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing! I hope there is another book after this one.. I really enjoyed it!

[Porter Broyles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this is a good reads giveaway.

I started reading it, but then my 3rd grader asked if he could read it. He read it for a couple of nights and seemed to enjoy it, but stopped reading it. (He could never tell me the name "Kasachuma".)

When I realized that my 3rd grader was no longer reading it, I offered my 5th grader a chance to read it. Again, he read it for a few nights, but again moved on to other things.

So I tried my 8th grader. Who promptly lost the book.

Thus, I can't really give the book a full review, but it didn't seem to capture any of my boys attention---thus a neutral 3 star rating.

(My wife who is a font/publishing geek loved the cover/font and appearance of the book. She said that whoever did it, knows what they are doing.)

[Toni Wittus · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a fun read and kept my attention throughout the book. I will be recommending this book to my nephew.

[Kelly Knapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a true old fashion style of book for children. While there are mini life lessons, I found it to be a book of enjoyment rather than lessons. will pick up hard copy for library.

[Tyler Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this e-book through Goodreads Giveaways.

I entered this giveaway because it sounded like a fun little adventure read, and that’s pretty much exactly what it was. It’s also geared more towards younger readers as I’m sure you can tell.

Twins Allan and Allison go on a summer trip with their parents to their uncle Bug’s strange, labyrinth of a home in a mountain town called End Of The Road. There they get set on a trail of riddles and puzzling clues which end in a way you likely won’t expect.

I think there could have been a little more character description for certain characters because they remained pretty blank for me the whole time, but besides that I’ll say this book well accomplishes being what it’s meant to be; a fun little adventure/mystery read.

[Finley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free ebook verion of this book through a giveaway hosted on GoodReads.

Adam B. Ford’s Clues to Kusachuma is a cute and funny story for readers both young and old. It follows twins Allan and Allison Addison on their family’s visit to their Uncle Bug’s house in the town of End of the Road. Although they are reluctant to leave their home in the city for a summer spent in a small town, it quickly becomes apparent that their visit will be anything but boring. Bug’s house is not your normal home, but instead a group of interconnected buildings, containing secret passages and strange oddities to discover. What’s more, the twins begin following a series of riddles and puzzles on a treasure hunt through the house and around the property, discovering more and more fun and interesting things to do, as well as meeting friends and enemies alike in the town. No matter what awaits them at the end of their adventure, it is obvious I will be a summer to remember.

The book was really cute. It was a good blend of fun, silly, and serious moments that seemed right in line with the sort of adventures kids, tweens, and young teens might go on when given the sort of chance the Addison twins have. It has a good amount of danger and mystery involved in it to keep the reader’s attention without being confusing or feeling forced. And while it does start a bit slow, when the kids are becoming accustomed to the house and have not yet begun their hunt for clues or secrets, once the real adventure starts, the plot pulls you along at an excellent pace. What’s more, by including graphics of the clues directly into the book, instead of having the characters just read them, it makes the reader feel like they are part of the adventure, and motivates them to try to solve the clues alongside the Als. The clues have a good range of difficulty, from clues that even the characters get instantly to ones which even I, in my 20’s, had difficulty solving until the solution was given. And even when the clue is solved, they are planned out in a way that still means the twins need to do some thinking and searching, because not every solution is handed to them just because the clue may be decoded. It was fun to follow along with them, waiting to see where it may eventually lead. And though some events in the ending do seem a bit out of nowhere at first, closer inspection does show that it was set up in small ways, though not enough to make it predictable or even expected until it happens.

As I said in the beginning, this is a good book for pretty much any age. The lower limit would probably be kids the same age as Allison and Allan (around 10 to 12, though I can’t find an exact age), though it is written in simple enough English that younger kids could probably read it if they have a high enough level of reading skill and the attention span to follow a story for multiple day and sittings at a time. It might also make a good bedtime story, where kids can think about the clues over the course of a day, and then dream about their own adventures at night. It is still fun enough for older readers to read though, and forces even adults to puzzle over the riddles, as each one requires different types of thinking. Although it is a standalone so far, it would be an interesting story to revisit, particularly if Ford writes a sequel for older readers (middle to older teens, most likely) where the twins return to Eotur and are able to reconnect with the friends they met there, both the normal and the odd. If only we could all experience the sort of scavenger hunt that Ford had created for his nephews which eventually inspired this story, I feel all of our lives would be complete.

[Hildegart · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part, this is a fun treasure hunt for kids. I think I like the house the best with all the hidden secrets it contains.

The reason I am giving the book three stars instead of four, is mainly because of one character. There is no change/growth in him until the very end, and even then, it feels like it is a footnote. I wish the change had come earlier and that there was more to it. Also, I would not want kids to think that the behavior of this one child is acceptable in any way. Why not make the change happen during the treasure hunt? Just my opinion.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Holly L'Heureux · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first started reading this book I did not know what to think. It was good. There just was not a lot of interesting things happening at first. But when they got to their uncle's house things changed for the better. This book went from being really interesting and a great read to crazy awesome and I was so invested I read the rest late into the night. I am so glad to have won this book in a goodreads giveaway. It was so interesting and I am definitely going to read more by this author. No matter the grade level.