Kim Dwinell’s Surfside Girls has a timeless quality. With its likable characters, sunny colors, and supernatural mystery, it’s a perfect summer read. I got an early look at it a few weeks ago and was instantly smitten—it’s a mystery with ghosts and history mixed up into it, the sort of book I loved as a child.

A California beach in summertime may seem like an unlikely setting for a ghost story, but Dwinell pulls it off beautifully. Jade and Sam are 12-year-old girls who are looking forward to a summer of surfing (and in Jade’s case, hanging out with boys), until Sam swims through an underwater cave and suddenly starts seeing ghosts. Jade doesn’t believe it at first, but soon she sees them too. Together they puzzle out the mystery of who these ghosts are—and what they want the girls to do. Dwinell’s effortless art, summery palette, and likable cast of characters make this book a smooth read, and it’s fun to watch the two pals piece together the mystery of who the ghosts are—and then hatch a plan to save their land.

The book will be out in August, but we have a preview for you today. Enjoy!