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The Real Shock
The Lost Bitcoin is an exciting middle-grade adventure about four friends who travel to London on a billion-dollar treasure hunt to recover a lost Bitcoin hard drive while uncovering a mystery that adults have failed to solve. What is the most rewarding aspect of writing a series?
The most rewarding thing is probably getting to imagine how these adventures would play out like a movie in my head. When I first heard about James Howells trying to gain access to a landfill in Wales to find a hard drive containing the key to hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin, I immediately thought, If my friends and I lived anywhere near there, we would figure out a way to find that thing!
That’s one of my favorite parts about writing a series. Whenever I hear about a real lost treasure or an unsolved mystery, I start imagining what would happen if my friends and I tried to find it. What would we need? Who else would be looking for it? What could go wrong?
How did you develop the personalities of the four friends and decide what each would contribute to the team?
You asked me this same question in the interview for my first book, and my answer is still the same. The four friends are really different parts of my own personality. I think everyone has different “voices” in their head depending on the situation, and I thought it would be fun to turn those into separate characters.
I’m writing the third book now, and one of the coolest parts of writing a series is seeing how their personalities have grown. Each character has become more complete and distinct, and sometimes I already know exactly what one of them would say or do before I even write the scene.
What research did you do to make the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency elements understandable to middle-grade readers?
First, I will say that there is nothing understandable about Bitcoin! I spent a lot of time researching cryptocurrency, private keys, digital wallets, and what happens if someone loses access to their Bitcoin.
The hardest part was figuring out how much readers actually needed to know. And that turned out to be pretty simple: there’s a hard drive, it contains keys to a fortune in Bitcoin, and no keys = no money.
The real shock was learning that Bitcoin is only valuable because a lot of people believe it’s valuable—kind of like cash—and that you basically own it because a huge network of computers agrees that you do. Once I understood that, I figured readers didn’t need a school lesson on Bitcoin. They just needed enough to understand the treasure hunt.
What do you hope young readers learn from the characters about ingenuity, responsibility, honesty, and teamwork?
I don’t really have a goal of teaching my audience anything. I just want them to be engaged, entertained, and to keep turning the page.
This question actually reminds me of a trip I took to a museum. The guide kept pointing out all the symbolism and hidden meanings in the paintings, and I remember wondering if the artists really intended all of that or if they were just painting something they liked.
I think about my books the same way. If adult readers see lessons about teamwork, honesty, or responsibility, that’s great. But when I’m writing, I’m mostly thinking, Is this story good enough to make someone put down their phone and keep reading?
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The Goonies meets Home Alone in a hilarious, high-stakes hunt for a billion-dollar fortune buried beneath a mountain of garbage.
Five years ago, a hard drive holding the keys to 15,000 Bitcoin was accidentally thrown away. Now, it’s lost somewhere inside a sprawling, heavily guarded garbage dump outside London.
Sam, Riley, Ava, and Jonah are going to find it.
Soon, the four friends are sneaking past security, deploying custom drones, dodging guard dogs, and racing an eccentric British politician who will stop at nothing to claim the fortune for his own royal ambitions.
They thought digging through trash was the hard part.
They were wrong.
When the treasure hunt follows them home, the kids have to turn their own turf into a fortress. Think glitter bombs. Paintballs. Homemade gadgets. And one very angry, humiliated would-be king.
Finding the treasure was only the beginning.
Now they have to keep it.
The hunt is back on. Are you ready to join them?
Legends Unearthed: The Lost Bitcoin
A billion-dollar treasure hunt starts with an ordinary piece of computer hardware in Sutton Lewis’s The Lost Bitcoin. This second installment follows Sam, Riley, Ava, and Jonah to London, where a family vacation provides cover for their search for a discarded hard drive containing access to a Bitcoin fortune. Its owner, Hannah Collins, has spent years trying to recover it, and the friends suspect that the official blocking her efforts has interests of his own. It’s an inviting setup for a middle-grade adventure novel: an enormous prize, a distinctly unglamorous hiding place, and four kids convinced they can solve a problem that’s defeated the adults. The story quickly makes room for both the mission and the cheerful disorder of traveling with three families.
The friends’ personalities give this children’s mystery much of its appeal. Sam brings research, careful observation, and a concern for fairness; Riley keeps things moving; Ava supplies engineering talent and confidence in nearly equal quantities. Jonah’s appetite, dramatic complaints, and questionable negotiating skills create a steady supply of trouble. Their conversations feel like an ongoing contest to see who can land the next joke, but there’s affection beneath the teasing. Sam’s frustration over extra treasure his friends secretly kept from their previous adventure gives their friendship a useful complication. Trust requires some repair, even among people who work well together. Ava’s landfill rover, Trash Panda, and her drone, Sky Fang, also develop surprisingly memorable personalities through the kids’ reactions to them. A solemn ceremony for a battered robot is one of the book’s funniest expressions of that attachment.
London gives the adventure plenty to work with. Westminster Abbey, the British Museum, the Tower of London, afternoon tea, and a visit to the Harry Potter studio tour become occasions for curiosity and comic mishaps. Sam’s interest in architecture and Ava’s fascination with security systems and special effects make those outings feel connected to who they are. Readers who enjoy STEM adventure stories will appreciate the emphasis on designing equipment, studying a search area, and preparing for setbacks. The explanations of Bitcoin keep the treasure’s significance accessible, while the gadgets invite readers to enjoy some generous imaginative license. Lewis favors short paragraphs, lively dialogue, and escalating slapstick. The recurring jokes about an outdated guidebook, missing luggage, and glitter establish a familiar rhythm, though some run longer than they need to. Replaying an extended confrontation through recorded footage also slows the story’s forward movement.
Reginald Pemberton-Smythe, the council official with extravagant royal ambitions, gives the book a wonderfully specific comic target. His fixation on ancestry, status, and the things a fortune could buy makes his increasingly ridiculous behavior easy to follow. That outsized greed gives the friends’ effort to help Hannah a clear purpose. The closing visit with her adds a quieter emotional note, allowing the reader to feel what recovering something lost can mean to its owner. Across the book, friendship, ingenuity, and responsibility emerge through choices and consequences, with room for the kids to be selfish, impulsive, and funny along the way. For readers drawn to humorous children’s fiction and treasure-hunt mysteries, The Lost Bitcoin offers an entertaining mix of inventive machinery, family antics, and a mission worth caring about.
Pages: 182 | ASIN : B0H58X2F4B
Beyond the Maps
Legends Unearthed follows young adventurers as they decode a wartime notebook, evade dangerous treasure hunters, and discover that the true test is not finding a legendary hoard, but deciding what to do with it. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I’ve always thought it was incredible that there are real lost treasures in the world. I kept wondering, What if I actually found one? Around the same time, I wanted to challenge myself to write a fun adventure novel and prove to myself that my dyslexia wouldn’t stop me from becoming an author.
At first, I imagined one person finding a lost treasure, but I realized it would be much more interesting if a group of friends discovered it together. Then I started thinking about how that could realistically happen. A family trip with close friends traveling together seemed like the perfect setup, giving the characters opportunities to explore different locations, solve puzzles as a team, and face challenges together. From there, the story just kept growing until it became Legends Unearthed.
How did you develop the distinct personalities and complementary skills of Sam, Riley, Ava, and Jonah?
The four friends are really different parts of my own personality. I think everyone has different “voices” in their head depending on the situation, and I thought it would be fun to turn those into separate characters. Jonah is the part of me that’s always thinking about snacks and would rather avoid anything involving ghosts. Ava is the tech genius with skills I wish I had — she’s the one who keeps the adventure moving. Sam is the planner who likes to think everything through before taking action, and Riley is the brave one who’s willing to take risks.
Putting those personalities together made the team feel balanced and made the adventure a lot more fun to write. Sometimes we’re cautious like Sam, sometimes we’re adventurous like Riley, sometimes we’re curious like Ava, and sometimes we’re just hoping there’s food nearby like Jonah.
What research did you conduct to portray Filipino landscapes, foods, transportation, family terms, and cultural heritage authentically?
One of my favorite parts of writing the book was spending hours on maps of the Philippines, trying to find terrain and locations where the treasure could realistically be hidden. I wanted readers to feel like the adventure could actually happen — that the places were real, the routes made sense, and the landscape matched the clues the characters were following.
Beyond the maps, I researched Philippine history, animals, famous landmarks, local foods, common transportation, family terms, and cultural traditions. I also watched travel videos and read firsthand accounts to better understand what everyday life actually looks and feels like there. The goal was always to make the setting feel as authentic as possible, because the Philippines itself is such an incredible backdrop for this kind of story.
Why was it important for the treasure to become an ethical dilemma involving looted cultural property rather than simply a reward for the characters?
I wish I could say I planned that from the very beginning, but it actually came out of trying to make the story realistic. If I found a huge hoard of gold on a family vacation, my first thought would probably be, “This is amazing — I want to keep it!” But then I started asking practical questions. How would you even get it out of the country? The parents would have to get involved, and suddenly the story would become about a family trying to take cultural property that didn’t belong to them.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized the right thing for the characters to do would be to turn most of the treasure over so it could be preserved and shared — maybe in a museum where everyone could appreciate it. My original ending was actually for the kids to simply hide the treasure again so another group of adventurers could find it someday. But I ended up liking the final ending much better because it felt more believable. I think real kids might keep a small souvenir, but they’d eventually realize they couldn’t keep the rest — and that doing the right thing was the real victory.
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Most kids spend summer vacation playing video games, sleeping late, and trying not to get sunburned.
Sam, Riley, Ava, and Jonah accidentally start a treasure war.
When Sam discovers a hidden notebook connected to the legendary lost treasure of General Yamashita, the four friends are pulled into a dangerous hunt across the Philippines filled with secret tunnels, hidden maps, ancient booby traps, pirate chases, and clues buried since World War II.
At first, it feels like the ultimate adventure.
Until they realize they are not the only ones searching.
A ruthless treasure hunter has spent years hunting for the lost gold, and now he is following the kids’ every move. With armed pirates, deadly caves, mysterious maps, and hidden enemies closing in, the friends must solve clues before the treasure and its secrets disappear forever.
Perfect for fans of fast-paced middle-grade adventures, Legends Unearthed: The Hunt for Yamashita’s Gold combines real historical mystery and unforgettable friendship into a thrilling treasure-hunt adventure.
If you’re ready to uncover hidden secrets, survive deadly traps, and join the adventure of a lifetime, then scroll up and click the “Add to Cart” button right now.
Who Darwin Really Was
Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection introduces children to Darwin and his theory with captivating graphics and easy-to-understand language. Why was this an important book for you to write?
This was an important book to write and illustrate because when a student of zoology and evolution in my younger years I had initially struggled to grasp the true mechanisms describing Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, and I wanted to present this information in a way that was easier to understand. The general public, including children, tends to misunderstand Darwin’s legacy, and for this reason, the subject is still shrouded in controversy. In addition, I was physically present in the Galápagos at the time of researching and creating this book, which made creating it all the more compelling.
What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?
I wanted to inspire curiosity and a sense of wonder as well as awareness of the fragility of the Galápagos islands’ biodiversity and Nature in general. With the non-fiction content of the graphic novel, I wanted to highlight the scientific, geographical, historical, and biographical aspects of Darwin’s story to enable my readers to get a glimpse of what Victorian exploration and science could have looked like, who Darwin really was, and how his Theory actually works. I also wanted all this to be engaging and memorable, hence the graphic novel format.
What were some goals you set for yourself as a writer in this book?
My main goal was to stick to the facts as much as possible, and reflect what actually happened, making sure to get the science, history, and geography absolutely spot on! It was also very important for me to become so familiar with the workings of Darwin’s theory myself that I could explain it in simple language to children. At the same time, I had to make the book fun to read, hence the style of illustrations, inspired by Tintin, among others.
Will this graphic novel be the start of a series, or are you working on a different story?
This is not a series but a stand-alone work. My main focus nowadays is to document climate change, in all of its various forms and sub-topics, focusing always on showing solutions. This is a series, called The Adventures of Captain Polo, and these books, too, are graphic novels. At the moment, I am working on the 5th book in this series, which is dedicated to Brazil and why that country is a major player in the fight against global warming.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Amazon
If you are a fan of Tintin, Maus or the popular Science Comics series you will love Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection.
For most people, Darwin’s ground-breaking legacy remains shrouded in controversy. The detailed mechanics of the Theory of Evolution are largely confined to Life Science academics and professionals. Yet Darwin’s work is still the best explanation we have for the fabulous diversity of life on Earth, and it is rightly present in the science education curriculum the world over.
Researched and created on the Galápagos Islands themselves, this historically, geographically and scientifically accurate graphic novel explains Darwin’s theory in clear language, and provides thoroughly researched insight into Darwin’s thought process and the pressures he had to deal with. As an educational resource, the book provides an entertaining learning experience for curious kids, and is perfect for science teachers who want to teach evolution in their classrooms. It is also great for any adult interested in natural history, Darwin and his theory, and Victorian scientific exploration in general.
Charles Darwin: the comic
What you will discover:
How the field observations made by Darwin and his crew while visiting the legendary Galápagos islands eventually led to the Theory of Natural Selection
How Darwin tapped into the scientific minds of his time and related with his peers
Darwin’s inner struggle while developing his work, including the dilemma he faced as a God-fearing Christian
The little-known truth behind how the Theory of Natural Selection was actually stumbled upon
How the Theory actually works, explained in simple language and with cartoon illustrations
Extend your knowledge and that of your kids in finally understanding the only scientific explanation for Life on Earth by traveling back in time to enter the mind of Charles Darwin!
I Love All Things Science and STEM
Spacecare: A Kid’s Guide to Surviving Space answers children’s questions about the challenges faced by astronauts living and working in space. I imagine this was a fun book to write. Can you tell us a bit about the writing process and how you gathered your information?
I spent many hours reading lots of books written by astronauts in space. I looked up scientific papers to understand some of the science research being done in microgravity. And I interviewed space medicine doctors and even Astronaut Megan McArthur. I’m also lucky enough to have participated in two NASA Social events where I got to visit behind the scenes at NASA Johnson and NASA Kennedy Space Center.
Did you learn anything that surprised you as you put your book together?
I didn’t know that your heart changes shape when you’re in space. Instead of being more like an oval to a circle. It’s because gravity is not acting upon the heart, pulling it down. Also, there is no “down” or “up” in space. Either position is just the same.
Can young readers expect to see more informational texts from you soon, and when will your next book be released?
I have 50 books out now that readers can choose from. They are nonfiction, mostly about STEM, and cover topics from WWII to robotics, to astronauts and aquanauts, to Zoology and crash-test dummies. I love all things science and STEM. Check them out on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, your favorite local bookstore. And tons of them are in the library, too. Science Rocks!
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Spacecare: A Kid’s Guide to Surviving Space
There is so much about the wide, wonderful world above us, its endless fields filled with stars, its vast expanses as yet untouched by humankind–a fascinating untold mystery. One of the questions many of us may ask is, “How does the human body respond to a space environment?” In this comprehensive and colorful guide, decades of data on human adaptation to a microgravity environment are shared with the reader in an engaging journey through the medical science of space. With records from real astronauts, hard data from the Mayo Clinic, and information from the Smithsonian Institute, this educational guide is a snapshot of life aboard the International Space Station and the effects of space travel on human physiology.
Spacecare: A Kid’s Guide to Surviving Space, by Jennifer Swanson, is no science-fiction tale. Instead, it is an insider’s guide to life aboard the International Space Station. With full-color photographs and numerous side panels filled to the brim with interesting and relevant facts, readers are pulled into this world of real scientific study that seems to beckon readers to venture out into the unknown.
It was Lord Byron who once wrote, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” This statement holds true for this book, where the reader learns facts that seem far beyond the realm of possibility. One such fact is the sheer speed of the space station, which hurtles through the abyss at over 17,000 MPH every single day. Other facts are surprising in a much different way, where avid science fiction fans must remember that some aspects of space travel, such as artificial gravity, have yet to be invented. Taken together, this engaging guide showcases the magic and mystery of the space environment, whose secrets have only just begun to be revealed to the human race.
Spacecare: A Kid’s Guide to Surviving Space is highly recommended for educators and parents who want to find scientifically reliable guides for their children about space. With the STEM movement rising to the forefront of education, no library should be without this comprehensive guide to human physiology in space. Earning five out of five stars for relevant information, high educational value, and engaging format, this incredible guide to space is a great fit for readers of all ages who wish to learn more about the world outside our atmosphere.
Pages: 80 | ASIN : B0BKCHFFV3
