The Boundless.

Oppel, Kenneth.  The Boundless.  Simon & Schuster     2014  332p  $15.99  ISBN 978-1-4424-72884 elem/ms  Mystery/Detective      VG         

This is an adventure story that finds young Will Everett riding the newest train, The Boundless, across the country.  When he finds a treasure room on the train, the bad guys come after him.  To help save the treasure and his own life, Will joins up with a couple of members of the circus troupe that is traveling on the train, and many adventures follow.  This is a really good adventure yarn, with enough steam punk to capture both the adventure-story lover and the steam-punk story lover.  What is not to love here?  You have a train traveling cross-country, you have a boy who stumbles across a treasure, bad guys who want to steal the treasure, and the circus people who want to help the boy.  This said, it took me quite a while to get into the tale.  Once I was pulled in, though, the action was fast-paced and fun to read.  This is an old-school action adventure for youngsters.          

Summary: This is an adventure story that finds young Will Everett riding the newest train, The Boundless, across the country.  When he finds treasure on the train, the bad guys come after him, at which point Will joins up with a couple of members of the circus troupe that is on the train, and many adventures follow.     

Adventure-Fiction                                           --Lynn Fisher