I was glad I read book five of the Sueño Bay Adventures before reading Sueño Bay Adventures V01 Shadow Island by Mike Deas and Nancy Deas. This first book was weak. It had no lead up to the reason why the main character, Ollie, is living on the island with his grandfather. We are several weeks into his stay with the opening, but we have no reason to care that he is having issues. It seems as if he is making friends. He seems to not be bullied. Maybe his relationship with his grandfather is awkward, but that could have been a point to work on. Though I found out why they call Sleeves, sleeves (I will only say the color green and a nose is involved).
The illustrations were rough and the character Kay was a stereotype that was not always positive. I had to stop and remind myself that book five had the same characters. With Kay in book one, she is plump, and in five, she’s thin and far from the stereotype “lives in a trailer, conspiracy loving, oddball” look. Though she still has that same personality. And things overall are not fleshed out and are muted colorwise. Obviously the Deas’ changed their style as they went along. But their writing style is the same with the quick, to the point, even if there are a few mysteries in the narration, text. Some are found out later in five, so I’m assuming two to four have pieces, too. On the positive side, we learn who Conk (the creature) is and how it became part of the gang, but overall things did not work out.
Still, I think I would have loved this book as a kid (aged 8 to 12). Plus, the book is “family friendly.” While there is a mystery it is not “too spooky” or “too much.” So if you have a higher end reader who needs a little simpler format, or a younger reader who needs a longer book, but not ready for the content of them, this series would work well.