It is the summer of 1968 and the world is in chaos. The Vietnam War is in full swing, young men are being drafted and people are protesting US involvement. Lyza, a 13 year old New Jersey native is struggling to come to terms with her broken family. Lyza's mother has deserted the family, her father works all the time and her sister and she fight constantly. Luckily for Lyza she has her two best friends, Malcom and Carolann. When Lyza's grandfather dies in the summer of 68 he leaves her maps that will provide her with an adventure of a lifetime. This book is written in verse and was a quick but moving read. I highly recommend this book to fans of historical fiction or adventures. ( )

Thirteen year old Lyza is living in difficult times. Its 1968 and the Vietnam War is claiming older brothers of her friends. Drugs and racism are always in the news on television. Closer to home, she has to deal with the death of her beloved grandpa and abandonment by her mom. She also has a sister who seems to enjoy making her life more difficult and an unavailable Dad who works too hard. It isn’t until she is helping her Dad clean out her Grandpa’s home and she finds an envelope with her name written on it in her Grandpa’s handwriting that things begin to change. The rest of her summer is spent searching for answers. Why did Grandpa leave her three maps, a key and a mystery? When was a good time to share the gift with her family? With the help of her friends, Lyza finds some of her answers and a little hope along the way.
Written in lyrical verse, this story is about living in the past, the present and the future. Preteen and teen readers will enjoy the treasure hunt and the look at the recent past of the late 1960s. They will understand the difficulties of living in a community where hope seems to be failing. The story is divided into poems rather than chapters and is appealing and easy read. Lyza’s with her thirteen year old comprehension of what is happening around her doesn’t make judgments on the people or the time. Instead the reader is allowed to experience both with her and share some of her questions. Kaleidoscope Eyes is a good choice for a middle school or public young adult library collection. Grades 6-8 ( )

When Lyza helps her dad clean out her late grandfather’s house, a mysterious surprise brightens the sad task. In Gramps’s dusty attic, Lyza discovers three maps, carefully folded and stacked, bound by a single rubber band. On top, an envelope says “For Lyza ONLY.” What could this possibly be? It takes the help of her two best friends, Malcolm and Carolann, to figure out that the maps reveal three possible spots in their own New Jersey town where Captain Kidd (the Captain Kidd, seventeenth-century pirate) may have buried a treasure. Can three thirteen-year-olds actually conduct a secret treasure hunt? And what will they find? ( )

Poetry or Book in Verse

Bryant, J. (2009). Kaleidoscope eyes. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Kaleidoscope Eyes is a work of fiction written in verse. Lyza is 13-years-old, and it’s the summer before her freshman year of high school. Her mom left two years before, so she lives with her dad, a math professor who works a lot, and her older sister, Denise. When her grandfather dies, she discovers some maps he left for her in the attic, which begins an adventure, mystery, treasure hunt. He had marked the possible locations of a buried treasure left behind by a notorious pirate, Captain Kidd. With the help of her friends, Malcolm and Carolann, the teens spend their summer investigating and hunting for buried treasure.
In addition to being a fun, fast-paced, exciting story, Bryant gracefully weaves in themes of single-parent families, friendship, race, and cultural concerns during the Vietnam War. It is a fascinating adventure that is sure to capture the interest of many tween readers. Grades 6-8. ( )

A fascinating adventure story set in the 1960's in New Jersey. Lyza has an older sister Denise who is into Janis Joplin and a friend Malcom Dupree whose father is an A. M. E. Church minister. When Lyza discovers a secret map left by her grandfather Malcom and his older brother are in on the treasure hunt but Denise is not. Family dynamics are played out and Vietnam era drama enter the picture. Will Malcom's brother come home from Vietnam, how will the teens get the treasure chest out of the ground before the boyscouts discover the hole they have dug?