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Upper Middle Grade Mystery • STEM Adventure • Time Slip • Ages 11–14
When eighth-grader Grace Brooks moves to Miller's Island, she expects a sleepy town full of marsh grass, rusty bikes, and middle-school drama. What she doesn't expect is Jack Carter-a local kid who treats scientific curiosity like a competitive sport and is determined to make her his lab partner, whether she agrees or not.
During science class, a strange note tucked inside an old textbook catches their attention. One moment they're examining the ink-an unusual, metallic-looking substance-and the next they're swept away in a dizzying flash of heat and light.
When they finally catch their breath, nothing feels right. The streets look older. The cars don't belong in the present. And when Jack knocks on the door of a house he knows well, he's greeted by his uncle-alive and very much younger than he should be.
Grace and Jack soon realize the impossible truth: they've traveled back to 1980s New Bern, North Carolina, right as the real-life Neuse River fish kill begins. As they investigate the environmental disaster, their curiosity pulls them deeper into a mystery involving river science, secret research, and unsettling hints about Jack's parents' future deaths.
With no clear way home and more questions than answers, Grace and Jack must rely on science, teamwork, and quick thinking to survive the past without changing the future. And everything seems to lead back to that strange ink-something far more advanced than any eighth grader should ever have touched.
Book One of the Miller's Island Mysteries - an upper middle grade series blending real science, time-slip adventure, and a fast-paced mystery rooted in history.
Tropes: Accidental time travel, STEM mystery, real-world science, environmental disaster, friendship through curiosity, hidden research
Tone: Smart, adventurous, suspenseful
Heat Level: None / Age-appropriate
Comps: Magic Tree House, National Park Mysteries, When You Reach Me
When eighth-grader Grace Brooks moves to Miller's Island, she expects a sleepy town full of marsh grass, rusty bikes, and middle-school drama. What she doesn't expect is Jack Carter-a local kid who treats scientific curiosity like a competitive sport and is determined to make her his lab partner, whether she agrees or not.
During science class, a strange note tucked inside an old textbook catches their attention. One moment they're examining the ink-an unusual, metallic-looking substance-and the next they're swept away in a dizzying flash of heat and light.
When they finally catch their breath, nothing feels right. The streets look older. The cars don't belong in the present. And when Jack knocks on the door of a house he knows well, he's greeted by his uncle-alive and very much younger than he should be.
Grace and Jack soon realize the impossible truth: they've traveled back to 1980s New Bern, North Carolina, right as the real-life Neuse River fish kill begins. As they investigate the environmental disaster, their curiosity pulls them deeper into a mystery involving river science, secret research, and unsettling hints about Jack's parents' future deaths.
With no clear way home and more questions than answers, Grace and Jack must rely on science, teamwork, and quick thinking to survive the past without changing the future. And everything seems to lead back to that strange ink-something far more advanced than any eighth grader should ever have touched.
Book One of the Miller's Island Mysteries - an upper middle grade series blending real science, time-slip adventure, and a fast-paced mystery rooted in history.
Tropes: Accidental time travel, STEM mystery, real-world science, environmental disaster, friendship through curiosity, hidden research
Tone: Smart, adventurous, suspenseful
Heat Level: None / Age-appropriate
Comps: Magic Tree House, National Park Mysteries, When You Reach Me
Related Subjects
Extended Details
- SeriesMiller's Island Mysteries #1