Treasure at Fort Arbuckle

Author: Tyler Mayhan
Genre: Children's

Buried treasure? Let's go find it! In Treasure at Fort Arbuckle, the first title in the Triangle M series, Shawn learns of a treasure buried by his ancestor during the American Civil War. The Mason family's search for Elisha's hidden fortune unearths more than they bargained for and leads to discovery of true riches.

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Reviewer: Liz P.

Matthew 6:19 says, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

This verse is the theme and lesson learned in Tyler Mayhan’s debut young readers novel, Treasure at Fort Arbuckle. 

Young readers will be quickly drawn into this dual-time story, just like Shawn Mason is drawn to his grandmother’s storytelling of Civil War Union solider Elisha Browne, Shawn’s great great grandfather. 

I greatly enjoyed the life lessons and character building qualities in this book. Sibling relationships, obedience, patience were some of the lessons spread throughout this book. There was a wonderful Christian perspective throughout the whole book. 

Sometimes I wished that there were more page breaks when the author switched between time periods, for clarity. 

Overall this was a wonderful read. I could easily picture everything going on just as if I was there! Young people and parents will be blessed to have read this book. This is definitely the kind of book I would want my children to read!

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Reviewer: Jane Mouttet

Tyler Mayhan plays on a child’s natural curiosity and desire for hidden treasure in the plot of this book. When his Gigi tells him another story about her ancestors, Shawn sees a mystery he needs to solve. I loved how the father in the story puts spending time with his children over doing something he wants to do on his day off. I also appreciated the main character valuing the story of his aging grandmother. The three children in this book have very different personalities which I assume will be further fleshed out in upcoming books in the Triangle M series. 

I think that this story will appeal to kiddos. Unfortunately, kids often choose books by their covers and I don’t think the cover will appeal to children. The cover looks more like it belongs on a fact book for an historical site than an adventure book for pre-teens. The story is great and with a different cover should have wide appeal to the age group. 

Treasure at Fort Arbuckle is appropriate for a K-12 Christian school library. I think the story will appeal to older elementary students as well as middle schoolers.

I received a complimentary copy from the author through Interviews & Reviews. This is my honest review.  

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