UNPLUGGED

The spoiled son of a Silicon Valley tech magnate is forced to spend the summer at a wellness retreat with no meat and no phones—and something fishy going on behind the scenes.

The last thing 12-year-old Jett Baranov wants to do is meditate at the cultlike Oasis of Mind and Body Wellness in Arkansas. He reluctantly befriends some of the other kids after Grace Atwater, an Oasis poster child, finds a strange lizard. Together with Tyrell Karrigan, who suffers constant allergies, and Brooklynne Feldman, who actively avoids the retreat’s activities, Grace and Jett care for the lizard and start making secret trips to the nearest town. They discover an eccentric gangster’s mansion and learn that everything might not be completely peaceful at the Oasis. The pieces come together in a mystery that touches, a bit incongruously, on the supernatural. Jett and his friends jump in to save the largely out-of-touch or even downright neglectful adults in an exciting climax of fireworks and alligators. The major detraction from this fun romp is the fact that none of the characters are particularly likable: The main cast of children includes a spoiled brat, a goody-two-shoes, and a doormat. Jett matures a little over the course of the story but not enough to make the indulged billionaire’s son truly sympathetic. Characters default to White.

A fun, low-tech summer adventure.