The Treasure Seekers

🪖🪟🤝💛

by Lucy Faulkner

★★★*

At a glance

Things I loved:

✍🏼 Author: Lucy Faulkner

🎨 Cover artist:

📅 Release Date: 5th February 2026

📚 Book type: Chapter, 288 pages

🌟 Reader level: Confident

⚠️ Content: 9+

🎨 Creative use of verse
🪟 Words become part of story
🗣️ Brilliant Yorkshire narrator voice
💛 Developing friendship
🕊️ Powerful themes of grief
📚 Fascinating WWI history

Dive Deeper

My Thoughts...

I picked up The Treasure Seekers as another of the books shortlisted for the Verse Novel Awards, and it was the blurb that appealed to me most. I love a good war story, but I usually read books set during WWII, so I really enjoyed finding a story that explores life in the aftermath of WWI.

One thing I absolutely loved was the verse format. The short verses make the book really accessible, but Cathy Faulkner also cleverly plays with the way words appear on the page. Text arches when a character raises an eyebrow and some sections are arranged to resemble stained glass. I think this is a brilliant way to introduce children to the idea that, in verse novels, it’s not just what you write but how you present it that matters!

I also loved the contrast between the two narrators. Stanley’s Yorkshire voice is so much fun to read, while Martha’s sections reveal her grief for her beloved grandfather. Watching the two characters slowly realise that they need each other—and that they have much more in common than they first thought—is really lovely.

🌟I would recommend this to children who enjoy history, realistic stories and themes of grief, empathy and friendship. It isn’t a fast-paced adventure that will necessarily fly off the shelf, but it would be a great book to read alongside an adult or in a classroom, as there is so much here to discuss and explore.🌟

Blurb

November 1918.

Stanley is convinced that the stained-glass window in the church that Martha’s late grandfather removed during the war is the protection the village needs to solve all its problems, including his mother’s sickness. But Martha refuses to help him search for the window panels, wanting to keep her beloved grandfather’s secrets safe.

When Stanley becomes ill as well, Martha realises she must act to help him. She begins her search for the panels, even as her father struggles with his own inner-turmoil in the aftermath of the war. As the people who are most important to them suffer, Martha and Stanley step up their search.

Can all the panels be found before it’s too late?