Seagulls Don’t Eat Pickles

This light adventure launches the Fish Finelli series starring nine-year-old Fish and his two best friends, who live in a seaside town where Captain Kidd allegedly buried treasure that’s never been uncovered. When a smug bully named Bryce bets Fish that he can’t find Kidd’s treasure, Fish and his pals set out to prove him wrong. Their quest involves brushes with the shady town librarian, who appears to have the same mission, and with a wealthy widow who owns the island where Fish believes Kidd’s treasure map is hidden. Much of the narrative consists of boy-buddy banter, heavy on the yuks, and some comical misunderstandings. Mixing fiction with fact, Farber (Islands of the Black Moon) also laces Fish’s dialogue with scientific and historic tidbits, and she includes sidebars about people, animals, and objects of varying relevance and interest, from Captain Kidd and Marco Polo to pieces of eight, walkie-talkies, and stingrays. Though this treasure hunt offers some moments of suspense, the wrap-up is a bit anticlimactic. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)