Author Patience Ezinwoke
Title The Lost Beach
Country Nigeria
Language English
Genre Fiction (Lantern Adventure series)
Category Pre-teen
Published 2014 by Lantern Books (a division of Literamed Publications (Nig.) Limited)
Pages 62
ISBN 978-100-656-2
Plot summary
The Lost Beach narrates the adventure of two young sisters, Lala and Caca, who wish to visit Port Harcourt Tourist Beach on the Children’s Day Celebration day, against the wish of the boys in the class to visit Stadium.
After careful planning, the two sisters table their wish before their form teacher, Ms Christy. After voting, the girls defeat the boys meaning they are going to the beach.
Sadly, Lala and Caca’s father disapproves of their visiting the beach because of the poor condition of the beach. The two inquisitive girls soon find their way to the beach to see things for themselves.
They become sad as they confirm their father’s story: the beach is run down—it is already ‘lost’.
Meanwhile, they see some kidnappers at the beach whom they later report to the police through their mother. The police commissioner handsomely rewards Lala and Caca but also slightly punished by their father for going to the beach without seeking permission.
They are happy at the end as the beach is renovated and they celebrate their May 27th there as they wish.
Setting
The story is set in the beautiful city of Port Harcourt; Caca and Lala’s school, their parents’ house, Uncle Jick’s house, Port Harcourt Tourist Beach, and the police station.
Language
The language is straightforward; the sentences are clear, the words are not complicated. Thus, The lost Beach is an ideal story for pre-teens and other interested readers.
Themes
The Lost Beach touches various themes such as parenting/child education, recreation, gender equality, rewarding kids, kidnapping, and so on.
Recommendation
The Lost Beach is an ideal story for young kids. As an adventure story, it is certainly an interesting read for kids. Nearly every kid enjoys going on an adventure, hence reading about adventure in a story will be fascinating to them.
The story is also morally enriching. It teaches the kids to always listen to their parents and to report to their parents and other appropriate authorities any strange occurrence they witness.
The Lost Beach teaches the girls not to feel inferior to the boys but to see them as their equals.
Interestingly, parents who read this story to their kids will also have a lesson to learn: children’s movement should be appropriately monitored to make them safe from bad people, e.g. kidnappers.
