Even though twelve-year-old Alexis was born in Hawaii, she won’t surf or swim with her friends—not since the ocean and its hidden creatures swept her out to sea. Instead, she grabs her best detective hat and decodes her mom’s latest challenge.
Alex’s mom works in counterintelligence and leaves codes, ciphers, and puzzles behind for Alex to solve, always with a “treasure” at the end. It’s a brilliant game between them, and Alex loves figuring out her mom’s puzzles—especially the tricky ones—but when an emergency at sea puts her mom in possible danger, solving the next one suddenly feels far more urgent.
Friends help as Alex races to decipher each clue before time runs out, but when the trail leads to grumpy old Uncle, his enormous dog Sarge, and a sea turtle unlike any other, the challenge changes into something bigger than any before. With storms on the horizon and lives on the line, Alex must face her fears to solve Mom’s challenge and save those she loves. With her ohana to help, she must be strong like the sea.
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“Narrator Emily Woo Zeller transports listeners to the Hawaiian Islands with her laid-back tone and patois…Zeller portrays a young heroine who is precocious and at ease with friends. But in the stormiest of emotional scenes Zeller captures near-panic…[in this] middle grade story embroidered with details of Hawaiian culture and nature.”
— AudioFile
“Swore’s descriptions of Alex’s anxieties ring true, and elements of mystery, ecology, and personal growth give this tightly constructed novel plenty of appeal.”
— Booklist“Exciting story features lush descriptions of Hawaii. An intriguing mystery. Themes of family (both found and blood) at its heart.”
— School Library JournalBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Wendy S. Swore and her family are farmers. She writes part time, particularly in winter when her farming chores give her time to plant seeds in her imagination. She is a member of SCBWI. She was named the Idaho Farm Bureau District 1 Woman of the Year in 2018.
Emily Woo Zeller is an artist, actor, dancer, choreographer, and voice artist who has won Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration in 2018. She began her voice-over career by voicing animation in Asia. AudioFile magazine named her one of the Best Voices of 2013 for her work in Gulp. Other awards include the 2009 Tristen Award for Best Actress as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and the 2006 Roselyn E. Schneider Prize for Creative Achievement.