Barbara Haworth-Attard is an Ontario author best known for her Mr. Christie Book Award nominee Home Child. In Buried Treasure, she tackles a coming-of-age novel for middle readers.

The world is a bleak place to 15-year-old Jesse. His mother recently died in a car accident, he can’t communicate with his cold father, and he is in trouble with the police. His father’s response is to send him to live for the summer with his aunt and her chaotic family, which includes his cantankerous grandfather. Jesse has all the usual problems of a city kid adjusting to life in the country, and they’re compounded when he meets a mysterious local girl whose mother has just committed suicide.

As the summer progresses, Jesse tries desperately to ignore those around him and maintain his self-centred loneliness. However, he is drawn into the family despite himself. The buried treasure of the title refers to an old story of lost money as well as, ultimately, to the buried treasure within Jesse himself. In the end, he risks his life to save his grandfather and the girl, and begins to resolve his problems with his father.

This is a stock lonely-kid-resolves-his-problems story. What sets it apart are the fine characterizations and strong writing. All the characters are interesting and believable, and the reader cares what happens to them. The tale has an unusual element of mystery in the suggestion of the presence of the ghosts of the main characters’ dead mothers. The dialogue, especially that of the wonderfully crotchety grandfather, is convincing.

It is a bit hard to believe that Jesse, who is basically a good kid, could maintain his bitter cynical mood for the entire summer, or that those around him could be so long-suffering of his moods and rudeness. In addition, for a middle reader, the hero at 15 is a bit old and the subject matter might not be of tremendous interest for an 11-year-old, but many kids will relate to Jesse’s cynicism and be pulled through the story by the writing.