Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Tween heroes fight discrimination, monsters in fun sequel.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In the wake of previous events, 12-year-old Emmett Lee and Molly Pepper are looking forward to peace, quiet, and Molly's inventor mom, Cassandra, finally getting the credit she deserves for her work. But it's 1883 in a slightly alternative New York, so that's not going to happen. Instead, the two pals are soon caught up in a frantic race on THE TREACHEROUS SEAS to catch escaped arch-villain Ambrose Rector, who's up to even more no good than before and doesn't mind grand-scale murder and mayhem if that's what it takes. Cassandra, the Mothers of Invention (a society of scorned female inventors), their robot friend, and kind strangers help out along the way, but will it be enough? Not if Rector gets his way.
Is It Any Good?
Alexander Graham Bell finds unlikely allies against a supervillain in this thrilling tale full of wacky Victorian technology, sea monsters, pirates, and exotic adventure. Tweens Molly and Emmett and Molly's much-uncredited inventor mom find their world-saving work in Book 1 left a lot of problems unsolved. Now, they've taken to The Treacherous Seas in pursuit of Ambrose Rector, who's still at large, still in pursuit of a superweapon, and still perfectly willing to betray, imprison, murder, or whatever it takes to get it. Author Christopher Healy offers irresistible characters, vocabulary-enhancing language, heartstring-tugging situations, and plenty of hilarious moments, as here, when our heroes, making a stop in Barbados en route to Antarctica, get unexpected assistance from the daughter of a local bandleader:
"'I can help you,' Cecelia said, her voice somewhere between concerned and thrilled. 'Wait here.' She ran back to her house. Molly figured she'd gone home to change out of her donkey costume, but she returned three minutes later wearing it. Although she now also had two drums slung around her neck.
"'I'm sorry, how does this help?' Emmett asked.
"'Distraction!' Cecelia said. 'Do they not use distraction to accomplish sneaky business in New York?'"
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about inventors, and stories about them. How does The Treacherous Seas compare with other adventures involving imaginative devices, technology breakthroughs, and the people who make them possible? Are there any inventors or inventions that really appeal to you?
A lot of steampunk fiction is based on the premise that electricity didn't get developed as it did in our world, so people found other ways to get the job done -- or went without. Is there some technology you take for granted today that would cause your life to be really different if it hadn't been invented?
Characters in The Treacherous Seas often find themselves getting disrespected or treated badly because they're Asian (Emmett), female (Molly, Cassandra, and the Mothers of Invention), or, sometimes, just a kid. Or a robot. Do you think they'd have an easier time today?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Adventure
- Topics : Adventures , Friendship , Animals ( Ocean Creatures ) , Robots
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Walden
- Publication date : November 5, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 384
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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