Cruise Ship Kid: Kidnap at Sea! is the second adventure in this hilarious, heart-warming mystery series where 10 ¼-year-old Silver, once again, invites the reader to help her solve a crime – and this time, there’s been a kidnapping!
Silver and her mum are on board a new ship, the Fabula, complete with Mega Slide, following her mum’s promotion. Silver has a new mission: to convince her mum to get her a mobile phone. She is soon distracted from her mission by the arrival of The Gang, her elderly friends who need help to get into their cabins as they need to access them via a phone app! It seems everyone has a phone except Silver – but she has a plan! Can she convince social media influencer, Kindness Kay, who has come on board to promote the cruise on her channel, to help her convince her mum to get her a phone?
But, when Kay is kidnapped, Silver finds herself on an entirely different mission. Getting out her detective notepad, Silver’s ready to solve the case of the missing influencer alongside The Clotted Cream Crime Investigation Team (a.k.a The Gang) … Can they discover the culprit and rescue Kay before they arrive in the next port?
I absolutely loved being back with Silver and The Gang in this action-packed, fun-filled adventure packed with oodles of heart-warming moments. I loved following the trail of clues as investigations led to suspicions and suspects, motives and alibis – and some fantastic red herrings along the way. I also loved that the team met in the most wonderful eateries and relaxed with activities on board which gives a great insight into time on board the cruise ship – and brought plenty of smiles and giggles!
As in the first book, I think that young readers will love the interactive, diary format of this book alongside the doodles and notes – and clues from future Silver! The short chapters, energetic and expressive illustrations, chatty and friendly style will definitely appeal to younger readers despite the longer length of the book. Children will really feel that they are part of the story as Silver invites them to help her solve the mystery – and even gives them places in the book to write their ideas and responses. Children in my class have really enjoyed reading Thief at Sea and I have no doubt they will enjoy this one just as much.
Whilst Silver’s first mission is to convince her mum to get her a mobile phone, I appreciated that the story shared some messages about the use of mobile phones, including the importance of taking breaks so as not to miss out on real life and that what is portrayed on social media is often not what real life is like.
Silver is such a positive role model for young readers – curious, determined and kind-hearted, but she’s also someone who sometimes has her confidence knocked and loses her voice – but works through this to feel proud of her achievements.
Set sail with the cruise ship kid for another fantastically fun adventure, perfect for readers of 8+.
Thank you to Usborne Books for providing me with a copy of this book. It is my decision to read and review this book and this review is my honest opinion of the book.
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