Product Description
Brady loves life on the Chesapeake Bay with his friends J.T. and Digger. But developers and rich families are moving into the area, and while Brady befriends some of them, like the DiAngelos, his parents and friends are bitter about the changes. Tragedy strikes when the DiAngelos’ kayak overturns in the bay, and Brady wonders if it was more than an accident. Soon, Brady discovers the terrible truth behind the kayak’s sinking, and it will change the lives of those he loves forever. Priscilla Cummings deftly weaves a suspenseful tale of three teenagers caught in a wicked web of deception.
Review
“Cummings has created a multifaceted story that is as much about the families and life in the Chesapeake as it is about a prank gone awry. Brady’s bighearted cousin Carl, his supportive father, and the anguished Mrs. DiAngelo are particularly well-developed characters who are pivotal in Brady’s understanding of the path he must choose. This well-crafted story will have broad appeal.”—
School Library Journal
About the Author
Priscilla Cummings lives in Annapolis, Maryland.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
We did not waste time. Crack of dawn the next morning we made our way down to the creek, where a thick mist rose above the still, dark waters. A great blue heron squawked at us for making too much noise and, indignant, took off from a nearby bank as we boarded my father’s boat.
Miss Amanda’s deck was slick with dew. We stepped carefully so’s not to slip as we settled the gear on board.
“Easy now. Remember, this ain’t no hot rod!” Dad warned, handing me the key.
Hot rod. Only my dad would say something like that.
“I’ll be careful!” I called back over my shoulder as I went up front to turn the key in the ignition. Once the engine was running, I adjusted the radar controls on board the boat while my father reached over to the dock and cast off the lines.
“Go ahead!” Dad hollered as he tossed the last line into the boat.
Leaning into the front window, I looked hard to port to be sure I was clearing the last piling as we pulled out.
Dad went to work getting the grapnel hook ready. He didn’t think it was necessary to use the oyster dredger. I was glad, because it would have taken most of a day and a half to get the contraption hooked up. Dad said that if the kayak was still there, we could snare it with the grapnel hook, which was actually an extra anchor he kept on board. It had several pointy flukes on it, so if it caught hold, we could wrap the lines around the machine that acts like a high–powered winch to pull in crab pots and hoist it up that way.
I hadn’t slept much, but I was alert and pumped full of adrenaline. Finding the kayak and getting the truth out once and for all was my mission. It didn’t matter what kids at school thought or what happened afterward. It was something I had to do.