Summer is indeed a time for mystery and adventure.
Instead of spending the summer with their divorced father, 12-year-old Nicholas Mettleson and his younger, identical twin sisters leave New York City and head to rural Ohio to live along Forsaken Lake with their great-uncle Nick, an arm amputee who never misses a beat. It’s not long before Nicholas teams up with local star baseball player Charlotte “Charlie” Brennan, and the pair discovers numerous mysteries. These involve an unfinished Super 8 film entitled The Seaweed Strangler, a sailboat that eerily appears each morning at 2:53, a boat accident that caused Nicholas’ then–14-year-old dad never to return to Forsaken Lake and a letter that hints at a long, unrequited love between Nicholas’ dad and Charlie’s mom. Reminiscent of Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks (2005), the charming narration has a timeless quality as Nicholas and Charlie involve the small-town community in completing The Seaweed Strangler and investigating the now-infamous boat accident. Also drawing from Arthur Ransome’s 1937 children’s nautical adventure, We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, the novel features its own sailing hazards and thrills.
Ultimately focusing on what's right rather than the truth, the appealing story leaves one big mystery unsolved, promising a sequel and more summer magic. (Artwork not seen.) (glossary of sailing terms). (Mystery. 9-12)
