SILVER VESSELS

Three teenagers embark on a daring quest in Florida where they use their ingenuity to find hidden treasure in this YA graphic novel.

Josh Friedman and his best friends, Hope Aguilar and Hunter Betancourt, leave suburban Virginia for a summer in the Florida Keys with Josh’s grandfathers. They plan to search for a treasure horde connected with a sunken Spanish galleon, and Josh believes that three trinkets, deemed worthless by experts, provide clues that the treasure is buried under three nearby forts. Along the way, the friends have to contend with the Apex, a secret cadre of millionaires—classic villains who often wear shark masks to hide their identities. The Apex offer to team up with the kids for the treasure hunt, although the kids suspect that accepting high-tech gear from these devious adults could come at a cost. The camaraderie is infectious as Josh, Hope, and Hunter evade guards and find secret doors leading to caverns full of unexpected contents. Of the unexplained, fantastic wonders they discover, Josh simply says, “Everything here—it’s all just north of possible.” Orlando’s treasure-hunting scenes fly by at a fast pace, while sections where Josh interacts with his grandfathers sometimes drag. Vecchio’s visual style is clean, bright, and bold, and reminiscent of illustrations in classic series such as The Adventures of Tintin and Asterix but with a smooth, contemporary sheen.  Relationships, gender identity, and sexual orientation are all prominent themes, as Hope is figuring out how to define herself and Hunter hopes that his crush on Josh might develop into a romance. Josh’s grandfather, Matt, and his husband, Ivan, reflect on their own challenges as a same-sex couple.

An exuberant and thoughtful tale of adventure.