The El Dorado Adventure is about
an extraordinary girl named Vesper Holly. Vesper is an orphan, and her
guardians are Professor Brinton Garret and his wife Mary. Vesper and Brinton,
or “Brinnie,” are looking through some of Vesper’s father’s papers when
she discovers that she has inherited a piece of land in El Dorado. The
land includes a lake of tar and an extinct volcano called Ocotalpa. Vesper
also receives a telegram from Alain de Rochefort urging her and Brinnie
to come to El Dorado at once on a first class ship he has prepaid for them.
Vesper talks Brinnie into going and they leave shortly.
While they are in El Dorado Vesper and Brinnie
make acquaintance with several people. They meet twins named Slider and
Smiler, a parrot named Adelita, and Blazer O’Hara, who is the captain of
the ship the Libertador which he sails with the twins. Vesper and Brinnie
also meet Acharro, the chief of the last surviving tribe of Chirica Indians,
and run into their old enemy Helvitius. Also, Vesper and Brinnie finally
meet Alain de Rochefort, who seems kind and intelligent. All of these people
help make Vesper and Brinnie’s journey very exciting.
Vesper and Brinnie’s new friends tell
them that Alain de Rochefort is planning to dig a canal near Ocotalpa,
where the Chirica tribe lives. The land there is sacred to the Chiricas.
They would rather die trying to keep Alain de Rochefort’s men away then
leave it. Vesper and Brinnie also discover that Alain de Rochefort is under
Helvitius’s instructions when Helvitius captures them. Fortunately they
are able to escape. Vesper thinks very hard about the threat to the Chiricas.
Vesper finally comes up with a plan. Acharro and the other Chiricas
will make it look like Ocotalpa is erupting. Helvitius and Alain de Rochefort
will have to give up on creating the canal, and the Chiricas will be safe.
Then Vesper and Brinnie discover that Alain de Rochefort interfered with
the geological reports given to Helvitius and made them say that Ocotalpa
was extinct. To everyone’s surprise, Ocotalpa actually erupts. Helvitius
is forced to abandon his work. With a little bit of luck, the Chiricas
have been saved.
Vesper and Brinnie return home. Mary (Brinnie’s
wife) is relieved to see them. Brinnie continues sorting Vesper’s father’s
papers, and life returns to normal. At least, it seems normal. No one knows
what Vesper will think up next.
This book was written to show that you can
do anything if you try. Vesper continually tries to do things and succeeds.
She attempts to escape from Helvitius and does. She tries to help the Chiricas
and is successful. No matter what the challenges, Vesper never gives up.
I think that the fact that you can do anything if you try is an important
lesson to learn.
I really enjoyed this book. It is extremely suspenseful, and you never
know what will happen next. I particularly like how every chapter ends
with a cliffhanger. For example, the first chapter ends with Vesper realizing
that her prepaid ticket for her boat ride is only one way-and it is too
late to get off of the ship. Also, this book is so realistic it makes
you feel like you are part of it. The only problem was that this made me
feel miserable when the characters did. I loved reading this book, and
would
recommend it to anyone who likes realistic fiction or adventure stories.