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An unexpected turn of events pushes Ben Floyd out of his normal small neighborhood routine, and into an unexpected appreciation for his old life.Ben Floyd has a lot on his mind. In only eighteen months he will be old enough to get a learner's permit to drive, but that seems like a lifetime away. Ben enjoys the close-knit group of friends in his small neighborhood, but lately he has been longing for a taste of adventure. Keeping an eye on his younger brother Cody is getting to be a big responsibility. And he is confused by complicated feelings he has for his lifelong friend, Cass.When the Floyd family ends up in the Florida Keys over Christmas vacation, Ben gains a welcome opportunity to escape his routines. He meets Mica, an independent, strong-willed girl who lives a nomadic life aboard a boat with her marine biologist father. Together Ben, Cody, and Mica explore the interior canals and coastal waterways, but Ben soon realizes that adventure sometimes brings danger, and that at the center of Mica's seemingly charmed life lies a mysterious loneliness.Young readers will relate to Ben's conflicting feelings and growing restlessness as they experience this realistic, thoughtful, and sometimes humorous portrait of adolescence by award-winning author Adrian Fogelin.

Anna Caseys friend has just returned from Christmas vacation in the Keys bearing a small present for her from Mica, the precocious eleven-year-old girl he got to know during his time at his uncles marina. This gift sets in motion a lively correspondence between the two girls; the resulting long-distance friendship gives readers new insight into Annas growing relationship with her new foster mother and fills us in on Micas difficulties dealing with her dads drinking problem and adjusting to public school after years of home-schooling. These girls have a lot in common, but their personalities are quite different. What can Mica and Anna learn from each other? Can they truly be friends?

In their last summer before the big shift to high school, Cass, Jemmie, Ben, and Justin find a mysterious hat which leads them to an abandoned builidng with a tragic past that might just nudge open the door to the future for all of them.