Story Behind The Book
When travelling many years ago, I got a job as a nanny in a tiny fishing village working with two young girls. The village with its headland and old light tower fired my imagination. I have been creating stories for my classes about this place for the last 30 years. This one is the first in a series of Taya Bayliss stories.
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Taya-Bayliss-Treasure-J-Gore/dp/1462894313/ref=cm_cr_dp_orig_subj"><strong><font color="#0066cc">Taya Bayliss - Treasure Hunter (Paperback)</font></strong></a> It is not difficult to see that Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys had some influence over the writings of retired teacher, Erica Gore, but she has managed to bring us what we love about those stories into a new setting (Australian) with new and interesting characters.<br /><br />There's plenty in this story for middle-grade readers: 11-year-old Taya Bayliss is uprooted from her home and friends to move to a tiny fishing village in South Australia; she abandons house rules to follow leads, which then puts her and others in danger; two local boys make the path difficult for the protagonist; and the mysterious old woman who appears to know the details of the missing treasure.<br /><br />It's a well-constructed plot, and the author also challenges readers to find something unusual or off-point in the story adding another layer of mystery on top of those the story holds for adventurous, curious pre-teens. <br /><br />***** Melanie Walsh Association of Independent Writers