Summerlost

Synopsis

Nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the 2017 Edgar Award "Kids are awesome. And they are diverse. There are children with different abilities and backgrounds and experiences, and every one of them deserves to find themselves in children's literature and to know that they matter." -Ally Condie, on Summerlost Sometimes it takes a new friend to bring you home. It's the first real summer since the accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother, Ben. Cedar and what's left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They're just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar. -Parents.com, Special Needs Now blog ★ "Condie is at her best … grabbing readers' interest from the first page." starred review "A nuanced portrait of grief deeply grounded in the middle-school mind-set."