This summer vacation adventure novel tells the story of Owen Jester, his best friends Travis and Stumpy, and their "frenemy" Viola. Owen and his family live with his ailing grandfather and his nasty housekeeper Earlene in rural Georgia. Owen recently captured a bullfrog in the family pond and he is struggling to find a way to keep the bullfrog alive and happy. One night while Owen is falling asleep listening to the sounds of the "free" bullfrogs in Graham Pond, he hears a mysterious thud, and then a crack and then a tumble, tumble, tumble as the nightly train rattles through the field behind his house. Owen convinces his friends to help him look for the source of the mysterious sound he heard as the train passed by in the middle of the night. What they find is beyond imagination and what they do with it is truly amazing.
I thought this book would be a cute little story about a girl and her summer vacation. Wow, was I wrong! The main
character, eleven-year-old Lily is allowed to do what she wants at school and at home because of something that happened in the past that has left her mute and “not quite right in the head.” Since we are in Lily’s head in the book it
becomes clear that Lily is just fine and could talk if she wanted. She just doesn’t want to. Then Tinny arrives. Tinny sees Lily secretly reading a book and realizes that Lily is keeping her abilities from her family and friends. Tinny is a mystery to Lily and she comes to this small town with her own big secret. Lily loves a good mystery (Nancy Drew is her favorite) and sets out to figure out what Tinny’s secret is. So, this is not a cute little summer story. These characters have big problems to solve. I guarantee this book will surprise you in the end.
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