Stone Cove Island

Gr 9 Up—Eliza Elliot has always lived on Stone Cove Island, a tourist destination off the coast of Massachusetts. The island is small; year-round residents know each other and as in most small towns, change does not happen easily or often. When the island is hit by a devastating hurricane, Eliza organizes a day of clean up, volunteering to tackle the lighthouse herself. While there, Eliza finds a strange and unsettling letter, which she later learns is directly connected with a murder—an incident she has never even heard mentioned before, and which she cannot get anyone to tell her about now. The townspeople may not be talking, but Eliza is determined to find out what happened to Bess. Myers's debut has an interesting plot, is written in a language appropriate for its intended audience, and has an important theme, change, at its center. The mood and the pacing are a little off in some places, however. The characters overreact at times and the plot skips ahead now and then, creating gaps that break the flow of the work. Additionally, there is more than one loose end at its conclusion. This is a supplementary work for any strong realistic fiction collection, but avid mystery/thriller readers may find it unsatisfying and predictable.—Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University R. M. Cooper Library, South Carolina