Books for boys that include adventure, faith, family, and fun can be hard to find, but I have a great series to tell you about! Susan K. Marlow wrote Goldtown Adventures to provide all that and more for your 9-13-year-old boys (and girls love them, too!). She hopes to encourage boys to put down their devices, learn how to become godly men, and stand up for right and wrong with no excuses.
The Goldtown Adventures series is set in California in the 1860s. The gold rush has ended, but Jem Coulter’s adventures are just getting started! Jem is a twelve-year-old boy in Goldtown facing tough decisions, new responsibilities, and big dreams. The newest books in the series, Valley of Treasure (book #5) and Ocean of No Escape (book #6) released recently, and I was excited to get a look at them!
Valley of Treasure begins with a celebration in Goldtown to mark the end of the Civil War. Details about the end of the war are just some of the historical tidbits kids will read and learn while joining Jem on his adventure. When the celebration goes terribly wrong and his cousin is badly hurt, Jem feels powerless to help. When an opportunity to hunt for lost gold appears and a plan is hatched, Jem’s spirits soar. But the plan is full of danger he’ll have to face, along with facing his ever-present and sometimes annoying younger sister, Ellie. He knows whether the plan succeeds or fails is up to God.
Ocean of No Escape continues Jem, Ellie, and Nathan’s story, but Jem’s adventure this time takes him far from Goldtown. A dream trip to San Francisco quickly becomes a nightmare when Jem is kidnapped and forced aboard a ship as the new cabin boy. Separated from his family, sick from bad food and the sea, and terrified of what could happen next, Jem hangs onto his faith in God.
In addition to reviewing her newest titles, I had a chance to ask Susan K. Marlow some questions about Goldtown Adventures, other titles she’s written, and free educational resources you can use alongside Goldtown Adventures!
What inspired you to write the Goldtown Adventures Series?
For years, especially at homeschool conventions, my booths showcased my Circle C Adventures, ranch stories set in 1800s California. Although I had many boys raving about the books, having a girl on the cover is an extremely “hard sell.” I also had parents asking if I would create a series with boys in mind. I was open to the idea, and when I pitched it to Kregel Publications (my publisher), they were enthusiastic, as books for boys are not as numerous in the CBA as books for girls. And what is more exciting than GOLD and the gold rush for a history setting? (Unless it’s pirates, I suppose.) I had a contract for six books back in 2011, but Kregel asked for four of them in a row, which I wrote. Ten years later, they approached me about finishing up the series with the last two books I’d been originally contracted for. I agreed.
What is the number one takeaway you want the boys who read the Goldtown books to have?
That reading is an exciting adventure that boys can enjoy enough to put down their devices and slip away into a time when boys learned how to become godly men, and men stood up for right and wrong with no excuses.
What will parents and kids find in the study guides you have for the Goldtown Adventures Series?
The study guides (and lapbooks) complement the books by expanding on the themes presented in a fiction novel. You never want to slow down the action to explain anything, but a study guide can do that. For example, in Tunnel of Gold, the kids are trapped in a mine. I would never slow down the scene by explaining what hard-rock miners did all day–not while the kids are trying to survive. Instead, one of the study guide activities teaches what a day in the life of an 1800s hard-rock miner is like. It is followed up with a hands-on activity to create a simple “miner’s stove,” which heats up their water or cocoa, just like the same stove heated up a miner’s coffee deep underground. The guides also include comprehension questions, vocabulary, and things like that, but my emphasis is on expanding all of the interesting gold-rush information.
You have free online enrichment activities kids can enjoy even without the study guide, is that right?
Absolutely! The study guides share the links to my online activities as students go through the material, but they are available for everyone to enjoy. Readers can watch us pan for gold, see how a stamp mill or paddle-wheel works, or even observe a Civil War cannon up close and then watch it go off. All videos and audios (songs of the gold rush) are intended to immerse the kids so they feel like they are there.
For families with boys of multiple ages, do you have Goldtown stories for younger boys?
I do! Many parents, after being grateful for the Goldtown Adventures, saw my early chapter books for the Circle C and asked for early chapter books for the Goldtown series too. So now there are early chapter books for boys: Goldtown Beginnings. The lead character, Jem, who is 12-13 in the Adventures, is 7 in the Beginnings. “A boy, his dog, and a gold pan.” That’s Jem! The early chapter books are fully illustrated, and as a bonus, you can download all of the illustrations free as coloring pages. There are Activity guides at a second-third grade level, and you can always try the first study guide or lapbook of any series free, plus there are the online activities.
We’ve talked a lot about boys enjoying Goldtown, but there is a lot for girls to enjoy in Goldtown, too! Tell us about what girls will enjoy about the series.
Jem’s sister, Ellie, is a spunky 10-11 year old girl who has her hand in all of Jem’s adventures (except the last book, Ocean of No Escape, when he is shanghaied). She’s an auburn-haired bundle of energy and totally fearless. In fact, she has her hand in getting her brother out of a sticky situation in the first book. Girls who like action and adventure will really enjoy these tales, and they might even wish Jem were their older brother.
What other books do you have available for girls?
As I mentioned earlier, the first few series I wrote center around Andi Carter, a 12-year-old horse-loving, ranch girl in the Old West of 1800s California. She has three older brothers (one who is quite bossy), an older “ladylike” sister, and a very patient mother. Her father was killed in a roundup accident when she was five years old. The Circle C Beginnings tell stories of Andi at age 6, when she finally gets a filly of her own. Stepping Stones continue Andi’s adventures at age 9, when she and Taffy are horse and rider at last. The Adventures are the middle-grade novels of Andi at age 12, in and out of danger and adventure, and the Circle C Milestones, where–just like Laura Ingalls of the same time period–Andi grows up, marries, and lives on her own ranch not far from the Circle C. As with all series (Goldtown and Circle C), a biblical worldview is evident throughout, and the characters learn and grow in their relationship with God and their families. You can meet Andi and learn more at CircleCAdventures.com.
I received a free copy of Valley of Treasure (book #5) and Ocean of No Escape (book #6) in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
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