SECRETS AT SEA

Problem novels, ghost stories, historical fiction—is there anything Newbery Medalist Peck cannot do? Apparently not.

Helena Cranston, oldest surviving member of her family after the deaths of both her parents and her sisters Vicky and Alice, has her hands full: dreamy sister Beatrice and skittery sister Louise keep sneaking out at night—Helena fears inappropriate liaisons—while brother Lamont skips school for more dangerous pursuits. Worse yet, the Upper Cranstons, dissatisfied with Hudson Valley beaux, are embarking for England to catch daughter Olive a husband. Europe, as Helena knows, is across a very large body of water, and Helena, being a mouse, fears water with all her heart. Yet soon she and her family, secreted in one of the Cranstons' steamer trunks, are carried onboard ship, where they discover an aristocratic mouse society heretofore unknown, including the Mouse-in-Waiting to Princess Louise, Queen Victoria's daughter, who shows Helena that mice can in fact change history—at least on a mouse-sized scale. Peck must have had a blast writing this. Whimsical language, sure characterization, unflagging adventure, even romance—all seen through Helena's relentlessly practical beady little eyes. Think The Tale of Despereaux without the twee. 

Sheer delight.