Zack Black loves midnight feasts and will do anything to make sure he’s got enough food for his sister’s sleepover. But once Dodger the dog gets involved things don’t go quite according to plan!
A fun story about forgiving people, based on the tale of the lost coin.
A Scripture Union story.
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This is now the third Zack Black book we have read. (The others are Zack Black and the Jam Attack! and Zack Black and the Ink Trick!)
When I asked my 7 year old nephew which was his favourite, his reply was, “I don’t actually have a favourite – I like them all!” (Although he does still really want a spy kit, so I think probably The Ink Trick! one is slightly more favoured than the other two!)
For me though, this one is my least favourite.
Zack has been collecting food for the sleepover his sister is having. If he can bring food, then his sister and her friend will be happy to see him. So he takes things every now and then from the cupboard to store in his room. He doesn’t
feel good about this, and is scared Mum will guess he’s taken them.
I like the way the author has portrayed this. Yes, it is tempting when you want something so badly, but the not feeling good goes alongside it. I think children will relate to this.
What I was a bit disappointed with was when Zack realises he needs to say sorry at the end of the book, he says he will tell her in the morning. Zack is having a midnight snack with Uncle Dan and his parents are in bed, so yes, he 
does need to wait until morning to tell her.
The only trouble is the story ends there and children don’t see him asking Mum for forgiveness or see her response. I think that is a vital part of the story has been missed as I believe children need to see examples of not just being sorry, but saying sorry, and then experiencing the feeling of relief/peace/lifting of a burden when you are forgiven. (You do see this with Zack and his Dad in The Ink Trick! which I did like, but still felt it ought to be included here too.)
The blurb is rather misleading. Yes, Mum loses her ring and you can see parallels to the lost coin parable in the Bible. However, the stronger storyline that actually deals with forgiveness is Uncle Dan returning after many years following a fight with Zack’s Dad, showing a likeness to the parable of the Prodigal Son. This storyline has been written well, and it was nice to see Dad and Uncle Dan reconciled.
Again, as with the other two books, it would have been nice at the end of the
story to have the Bible reference printed telling children where they could find the parables of the lost coin and the prodigal son, or to even have the parables printed in the back of the book, just so that children could see the similarities between the parables Jesus told with this story about Zack Black. However, that is something that you can do as an extra with your child if you want to extend their learning.
So overall, several good things, but there were a few things I felt could have been written about better. My rating: 
We still have one more Zack Black book to collect, and we are both looking forward to getting that one to read!
~ Wendy Sparkes ~