The GEEKs are back after their last treasure hunt, and, after being accused of faking the whole thing, agree to a second hunt in the nearby town of Grove Park. This time, every step is reported by a new friend, and a not so honest reporter.

A fun read that carries the same beats as the first book, with an added childhood crush element. It added a nice touch to the story, and the writing was quick and accessible. The adults seemed to be a bit more one note than they did in the first one, which attitudes and personalities completely changing in order to progress the story. The ending was tidied up really quickly, but it is a middle grade book, so it's a bit more forgivable.

The GEEKS are frauds? Never! After saving the town in the last adventure, four friends are out to prove that they are NOT frauds - someone is trying to stop these GEEKS from doing the real work.

The second in the friendship series, Hide and GEEK: The Treasure Test is sure to please readers of all ages.

An exciting adventure with fun characters! The young people in this book are smart and really rely on each other. I liked how they worked together and stood by each other even if they didn't agree. I thought the author did a great job at making the characters and relationships real to life. The plot moves quickly with a couple exciting twists. Overall, a well-developed, easy to follow mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
The GEEKs:
After a wild treasure hunt that almost got Gina, Edgar, Elena, and Kevin killed in a secret vault hidden in an abandoned amusement park, the GEEKs thought life would go back to normal. They’d saved their town from ruin and secured their friendship forever, right? Man, were they wrong. The only thing that returned to normal was middle school lunch.

THE PROBLEM:
A company wants to reopen the abandoned amusement park, Bamboozleland, and it’s just what the town needs! But a blogger from the next town over starts spreading vicious rumors that the treasure was fake and the GEEKs are a bunch of frauds.

THE TEST:
The GEEKs are determined to prove their puzzle-solving prowess, and what better way than another treasure hunt? A local bigwig sets up a new set of clues for them to follow, and this time the hunt will be documented. The GEEKs have already saved their friendship. Now they must prove that they are true treasure hunters!

A cute children's mystery book.

The run-down abandoned amusement Park
Bamboozleland in Elmwood was scheduled to be rebuilt and possibly expanded, but a yellow journalist (big liar) made the GEEK kids seem like fakes and swindlers (along with their parents). So the backers were backing out!

Mayor Lily Grove proposed a new treasure hunt (supposedly based on Grove Park history) to be covered by an unbiased award-winning kid-journalist, Finley Brown. If it works, the park will be saved, if it doesn't, things may be much worse, because this could be a last gasp effort for the town's tourism.

Does Lily have good intentions? Will Mr. Schoozer keep his promise to recommend to project to his company? Are there sabotaging accomplices? Will the cafe owner over-sauce her warm barbeque burgers? Mmm barbeque! Will Kevin be removed as 6th grade co-president?

Are the GEEKs excellent puzzle-solvers or just lucky? Readers will have a lot of questions during this story, and not all of the answers are good (some things overlooked are stunning), but over all, it's an entertaining book that inspires friendship and community pride.

I was troubled by the tendency of a character's "action over thinking"--instead of listening to team mates--then the others follow out of "friendship." "Sticking together" with friends doesn't mean tossing your good sense out the window to follow a friend into iffy situations!

4/5 Stars Not the best "friendship" examples.

Thanks to Random House Children's, Random House Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for the temporary digital preview; any review is voluntary and my own opinion.

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