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by Dondi M. Day (Author), Marie C. Thobe (Illustrator)
In the long, golden summer of 1977, a twelve-year-old boy and his closest friends set out on the adventure of their lives - a hunt for buried pirate treasure along the salt-soaked shores of North Carolina's Crystal Coast.
What begins as a neighborhood game becomes something far stranger and far older. Faded maps. Whispered legends. Names half-remembered by the oldest fishermen in town. As the boys press deeper into the marshes and inlets of Carteret County, they discover that the past is not finished with this coast - and that the coast is not finished with them.
Calico Creek: A Quest for Pirate's Treasure is a sweeping coming-of-age adventure set against the wild beauty of the Outer Banks and the Crystal Coast. Through the eyes of a young narrator, readers walk the docks of Beaufort, comb the dunes of Atlantic Beach, climb the lighthouse at Cape Lookout, and listen for the rumor of pirates that has lingered in this corner of America for three hundred years.
But the boys' hunt is only half the story.
Far from shore, on the heaving expanse of the open Atlantic, a hardworking merchant sailor is dragged into the most dangerous trade of all. Hardened by mutiny, betrayal, and salt, he is forged into a ruthless pirate captain - and his black sails will rise on the horizon when the young hunters least expect them.
Brace yourself for the legend of the Sea Banshee. Brace yourself for cannon-shattering sea battles, ship-to-ship clashes in cold gray water, and a mystery that ties a small Carolina town to the bloodiest waters of the eighteenth century.
Calico Creek braids together two unforgettable threads - childhood wonder on the sand and high-seas terror beyond the horizon - into a novel that families read aloud, classrooms adopt, and adult readers finish in a single weekend. For lovers of Treasure Island, The Goonies, and Holes; for anyone who has ever stood on a beach at low tide and wondered what the sand might be hiding.
BRING THE STORY TO LIFE - FREE SCAVENGER HUNT
This isn't just a book. It is a real-world treasure hunt. The free Calico Creek Scavenger Hunt sends families and fans across 68 actual locations from the novel, hidden up and down the Crystal Coast and Outer Banks of North Carolina - from Beaufort to Cape Lookout, Morehead City to Atlantic Beach. Solve the riddles. Mark each find on the interactive map. Earn pirate ranks and unlock your own pirate name as you go. Finish all 68 and claim a free signed copy from the author.
Free. Kid-safe. Built for families, classrooms, homeschoolers, and any adult who still believes the best treasure is the kind you have to walk a beach to find.
Start the hunt: https: //crystalcoastbeachside.com/calico-creek-scavenger-hunt
Perfect for: middle grade, YA, and adult readers who love coming-of-age adventure, pirate sagas, treasure-hunt fiction, North Carolina history, and books like Treasure Island, The Goonies, and Holes.
