My kids and I have enjoyed working through a number of series over the past two years, from the Little House books to The Chronicles of Narnia to A Series of Unfortunate Events, and I am happy that we stumbled across this series by a Christian author as well. We’ve enjoyed following the escapades of Jack, Penny, and Jean Derwood and their pal Scruggs as they’ve stood toe-to-toe with smugglers and thieves and have learned some important life lessons along the way.

This sixth book, Abandoned, ends the Peabody Adventure Series in typically dangerous fashion. The story begins with another trip for these globetrotting Derwood kids and their friends as they head up to Maine to visit an uncle. What starts as an innocent plane ride and touristy photograph, though, soon turns into a parent’s worst nightmare, as the kids are kidnaped from the airport in an unmarked van and abandoned in the woods with no food or water. Now, rather than fighting against a crook and a caper (at least for the moment), the Derwoods and their friends from Peabody, WI, must fight against the elements and themselves. It’s an excellent turn for the series to take.

As having a soft spot in my heart for outdoor survival stories, I really enjoyed this one. In fact, I had once tried reading Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet to the kids, but at the time, they weren’t interested—come to think of it, I need to try that out again, and run us all through the full Brian Saga! Anyways, while I wasn’t sure how my kids (9, 10) would like the survival aspects of this book, I knew they’d love hearing from the Derwoods again. It scratched both our itches.

Of course, as we went through the book, I was thinking that Massi could have gone a whole lot deeper into the survival scenarios—how the Derwoods might have found or filtered their water when no stream was available, how they might have trapped food when no cabins were in sight, etc. I would even have enjoyed a deeper description of their fire starting or shelter building. Alas, we get a pretty glossed-over version of these kids in the wild, with their mysterious plight and their angry bickering taking up most of the space.

Still, we enjoyed this story and remained gripped through the mystery of who had kidnapped them and why. Jean’s blistery feet, Annette’s miserable attitude, and the kids’ fantasies of Vikings were all strong story elements that kept us engaged.

I’ve heard that, decades after this story finished, Massi wrote a follow-up story to the Derwoods as adults [Editor’s note: Hall of Heroes (2013)]. Those who had mentioned it to me didn’t have high opinions of the book, but it’s still something I might check out on my own, to get the final word. Without it, though, these six books make for a solid series that I highly recommend.

©2022 E.T.

Read More from JourneyForth Press:

• With Wings as Eagles by William Pinkston (1983)
• These Are My People by Mildred T. Howard (1984)
• Medallion by Dawn L. Watkins (1985)
• Derwood, Inc. by Jerri Massi (1986)
• A Dangerous Game by Jerri Massi (1986)
• Treasure in the Yukon by Jerri Massi (1986)
• With Daring Faith by Rebecca Henry Davis (1987)
• Courage by Darkness by Jerri Massi (1987)
• Some Summer! by Jean Vandervenne (1987)
• Llamas on the Loose by Jerri Massi (1988)
• The Runaway Princess by Milly Howard (1988)
• Abandoned by Jerri Massi (1989)
• A Question of Yams by Gloria Repp (1992)
• Brill of Exitorn by Peggy Downing (1994)
• Peanut Butter Friends in a Chop Suey World by Deb Brammer (1994)
• The Lost Prince by Peggy Downing (1995)
• Tales from Dust River Gulch by Tim Davis (1996)
• Camp Sierra Secret by Esther G. Wilkinson (1996)
• Chickadee Winter by Dawn L. Watkins (1999)
• Songbird by Nancy Lohr (2000)
• Nix by Penny McKnight (2006)
• Shield by Dawn Watkins (2008)