Award-winning and best-selling author Steve Sheinkin’s new middle-grade novel follows a group of friends as they set off on an unauthorized road trip in search of a legendary buried treasure. Drawing from the very true story of the Scottish privateer William Kidd, this comedy-adventure is perfect for new and established fans.
DEPARTMENT OF TREASURE
by Steve Sheinkin
Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan, Fall 2027
(via Writers House)
Photo credit: Rob Spring
Sam Sparkler dreams of becoming one of the world’s great treasure hunters. One day. For now, he’s content with metal detecting after lunch at school, digging up a coin on a lucky day. Not the most exciting life, but it’s tough enough adjusting to this new middle school, living with his mom’s new husband. But things start looking up when Sam’s nineteen-year-old step-brother, Tristan, comes into town. Tristan— who fancies himself a modern-day knight, traveling the land in his ice cream truck—is desperately in debt and has agreed to stay with Sam while their parents are off on a long weekend in Florida. It’s the recipe for the perfect adventure.
Inspired by a chapter in his favorite treasure book, Sam proposes a wild idea: solve the mystery of Captain Kidd’s buried treasure! Tristan needs the money, and Sam can’t pass up the chance to follow his treasure-hunting dreams. Rounding out the crew is Smiley Cortez, a clever girl Sam sort of knows from math class. She’s absolutely, one hundred percent joining this quest, invited or not.
But the team quickly discovers they’re not alone in their search. They have a dangerous rival: a disgruntled nonfiction author named Byron Bellamy. A letter buried in Bellamy’s files sets off a chase for clues that leads to a midnight showdown on New York City’s Governors Island, where the notorious Captain William Kidd just may have hidden his loot in the summer of 1699. Drawing on the true history of Captain Kidd, this is a story celebrating the fact that great treasures are still out there, sleeping below the ground. And adventure lives on, lurking under the surface of everyday life. As Sam has been known to say—What’s the point of a fantasy that can never come true?
Steve Sheinkin is the author of fast-paced, cinematic nonfiction including Bomb, Fallout, Undefeated, Born to Fly, The Port Chicago 50, and Impossible Escape, as well as The Bletchley Riddle, a middle grade historical mystery written with Ruta Sepetys. Steve’s accolades include a Newbery Honor, three Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, a Sibert Medal and Honor, three National Book Award finalist honors, and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He lives with his family in Saratoga Springs, New York.