An instant New York Times bestseller!
âStorytelling for young readers at its finestâequal parts summer adventure and environmental suspenseâŠ[a] love letter to family, friendship, and the natural world.â âKwame Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The Crossover
From New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe comes a beautiful story of friendship, loss, and the healing power of nature in her first book for middle grade readers.
Eleven-year-old Jakeâs life has just turned upside-down. His father was wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jakeâs spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuaryâno cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jakeâs grandmother doesnât believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games...and no friends. This is going to be the worst summer ever!
Heâs barely on the island before he befriends two other kidsâMacon, another âsummer kid,â and Lovie, a know-it-all who lives there and shows both Jake and Macon the ropes of life on the island. All three are struggling with their own family issues and they quickly bond, going on adventures all over Dewees Island. Until one misadventure on an abandoned boat leads to community service. Their punishment? Mandatory duty on the Island Turtle Team. The kids must do a daily dawn patrol of the beach on the hunt for loggerhead sea turtle tracks. When a turtle nest is threatened by coyotes, the three friends must find a way to protect it. Can they save the turtle nest from predators? Can Jakeâs growing love for the island and its inhabitants (be they two-legged, four-legged, feathered, or finned) help to heal his father?
