Danger at Devil's Cove by Marilyn J. Bakker

Gold Medal Award winner

'Danger at Devil's Cove' is a fast-moving adventure story for 10-14 year olds, set in the bush and goldmines of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Josephine Mary Cresswell's world crumbles when her mother is killed in an accident and she is obliged to move to a small township on the Coromandel Peninsula to live with her aunt, a virtual stranger. Thrust into an unfamiliar environment at her new school, Josephine makes friends with Tommy, the son of the local constable, but falls foul of Prudence, the school bully. When Prudence goes missing Josephine and Tommy set off to search for her in an abandoned goldmine and inadvertently stumble across a covert smuggling operation, leading to an exciting climax at Devil's Cove.

On the surface, Danger at Devil's Cove is a rollicking adventure story with ample action to keep the readers interest through to the last subtle twist. Underlying this is Josephine's struggle to choose the right path and in the process to better understand who she is. The more advanced reader may pick up on underlying themes of temptation, choice and consequence.

Danger at Devil's Cove is a al adventure story set in the 1950s and depicts the active outdoor lifestyle and history of that era. It also contains some references to early gold mining in the 1850s, and to World War Two. A section at the back of the book provides some background information for the interested reader.