HERMIT DAN
By
Fresh from their last Pirate Island Adventure (1975), Jed, Liza, and Bill Roberts are still visiting Gran and Grandpa and are ready for another easy mystery. This time they're out to prove the pirate origins of the island, taking on the reclusive Hermit Dan, whose forebears are rumored to have been the island's original buccaneers. Dan's kept up a gruff exterior to folks since arson destroyed his parents' home years ago, but the Roberts kids thaw him out with relentless cheerfulness, good manners, and amazing ease. Extras like two surprise birthday parties, the children's yapping pup, Jelly Bean, and a fistfight that earns Liza her first shiner make this upbeat, undemanding summer reading.