Lost Curse, The

When Peruvian teen Severino visits his American friend Jonathon in rural Utah, a relaxing summer vacation turns deadly. A chance encounter with an artifact thief pulls the boys—and their fierce Paiute friend Tallie—into a decade-old mystery involving a murdered father, a legendary temple of gold called Carre Shinob, and a killer willing to do anything to plunder it. Rattlesnakes, a booby-trapped mine, an earthquake, and a mysterious blond beast stand between them and survival in this fast-paced adventure for teen readers.

• A pulse-pounding treasure hunt where the map is tattooed on a girl's ankle and the treasure is a temple of gold hidden inside a Utah mountain.
• Clean, high-stakes adventure perfect for reluctant readers—rattlesnakes, a booby-trapped mine, an earthquake, and a monstrous guardian dog.
• Two cultures collide: an Inca teen and a Paiute girl discover their peoples share the same tragic history of Spanish enslavement.
• A ten-year-old murder, a faithful dog mistaken for a Skinwalker, and a father's love encoded in a butterfly.

“There is not enough gold in the world to make me disturb the final resting place of my ancestors. Sometimes the past should remain buried.”

Perfect for a teen (especially a reluctant boy reader) who loves survival-adventure and treasure-hunt thrillers in the vein of Gary Paulsen or National Treasure, with clean content and a touch of romance.