A young adult book with fast-paced adventure in a scenic
setting, CELTIC RUN brings 14-year-old Jake from NYC to the
Dingle peninsula, Ireland.
Jake is pleased to be accompanying his pal Julie on a
school trip for summer, but less than happy that her boyfriend
Zach, a football player who teases him, is also along. The
three are separated on arrival to live with different
sponsor families and Jake finds himself boarding with a
family including lively Maggie who shows him around, lends
him a bicycle and so on. Jake saves a little girl from
drowning in the ocean and finds an old wooden box with a
pendant and inscription. This Spanish lettering sends the
youngsters on a treasure hunt for the remnants of the
Spanish Armada.
Unfortunately the possibility of treasure sparks interest
among unscrupulous locals and the four are chased around
the town of Dingle and on Skellig Michael, an island
monastic site, as they go from step to step of the hunt.
Jake has personal issues - his father was injured in an
accident and is now in a wheelchair, and their funds have
diminished. But away from home he is more concerned with
his crush on Julie and with employing his cherished
Leatherman tool to good end, hotwiring old cars, prising up
rock steps and making booby traps.
A couple of details caught my eye: Irishmen are described
as wearing kilts - that's Scotsmen; the kids eat biscuits -
in Ireland we call them scones; and a hastily saddled horse
is apparently ridden across fields, over walls and into
town without ever a mention of bridle and reins. The
exploits also become ever more Indiana Jones-like. But
young teenagers want action and puzzles, and this tale
certainly provides those in plenty. This could be a good
Christmas present for a young person, with the cheerful
addition of colour photos at the start of every chapter and
scenic glimpses of the south-west Irish coast.
Jake, a 14-year-old gadget whiz, didn’t plan on a summer
full of treasure, thieves, and danger. He just got lucky.
While in Ireland on a class trip, Jake stumbles upon the
first clue to a treasure missing from the Spanish Armada.
Jake sees the riches as his chance to buy back the family
sailboat and restore a piece of the life he enjoyed before
his father was critically injured in an accident. Desperate
to find the treasure, Jake teams up with Zach, his nemesis
and class bully, and two girls in a clue-hunting chase
across the Dingle Peninsula.
Dodging would-be thieves, exchanging wisecracks with Zach,
and concocting ingenious devices to get them out of scrapes,
Jake leads the team as they connect piece after piece to the
more than 400-year-old mystery.
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