Islanders

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. Twelve-year-old Jake's life has just turned upside-down. His father has been wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jake's spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuary-no cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jake's grandmother doesn't believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games...and no friends. He's barely on land before he meets and befriends two other kids-AJ, another "summer kid" and Lovie, who lives there and shows both Jake and AJ the ropes of life on the island. All three are struggling with their own family issues, and the three quickly bond, going on adventures all over Dewees Island. But their fun stops after one misadventure on an abandoned boat leads to community service. Their punishment? Mandatory turtle duty as a part of Team Turtle, where they must do a daily dawn beach patrol checking for loggerhead sea turtle tracks and to keep an eye on the nest. And when the nest becomes endangered, the three friends must find a way to protect it. Can they save the turtle nest from predators? And can Jake's growing love for the island and its inhabitants (be they two-legged, four-legged, feathered, or finned) help to heal his father?

The sequel to New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe's The Islanders, an "exciting, tender, and absolutely wonderful" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) story of friendship, loss, and the healing power of nature. Jake Potter is back on Dewees Island for another summer with his beloved grandmother, Honey. This time, Jake is excited that his dad will be there as he continues to recover from his injuries sustained in Afghanistan. But Jake also knows they both need get used to a new normal, which isn't easy. Jake also discovers that his two best friends, Macon and Lovie, are struggling as well. Macon is adjusting to being a big brother, while Lovie is navigating a new relationship with her dad, who has long been absent in her life. To cheer everyone up, Jake decides that the trio needs a new mission, just like they had the previous summer in saving the turtles. He discovers that his dad loved spending time in an old tree fort on the island, and there is a special treasure box hidden somewhere nearby. Jake just knows if he can find it, maybe his dad will be happy again-and he knows Macon and Lovie are the perfect fellow treasure hunters! Their search leads them to discover there might be actual buried treasure somewhere on Dewees, all while they battle some unwelcome guests on the island, of both the two- and four-legged kind! On the three friends' biggest quest yet, they realize that the treasures they really want in life were with them all along.