Author: Melissa Savage
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly
Little Green Men at the Mercury Inn by Greg Leitich Smith
Rating:
 |
| a sweet story |
Summary (provided by publisher): Ada Ru finally thought her parents were going to agree to a Fitzhugh family vacation in Disney World the summer before sixth grade, until her father announces he's taking a teaching position in Scotland, and moving the family there for the entire summer.
Ada Ru is anything but happy. She doesn't like their new home, she hates haggis, and she certainly doesn't like the idea that she will be away from her best friend all summer. To top it all off, there is said to be a monster in the lake near their house!
That's when she meets Hamish Bean Timmy, Hammy Bean for short, captain of the Nessie Quest Monster Chaser boat tour. He knows everything there is to know about the fabled Loch Ness Monster and Scotland. But as the two unlikely friends embark on an epic adventure to spot the lake monster, they end up discovering more than they ever could have imagined.
My opinion: Aliens and cryptids are, invariably, a metaphor for social or personal issues. They represent a character's isolation. This book deviates from the standard by lowering the stakes. Ada doesn't really have a lot of concern here. She's spending a summer away from home. The isolation is Hammy Bean's. Ada's involvement in the plot is entirely through Hammy Bean. She isn't even directly involved in the biggest dramatic scene. This means that the reader is somewhat emotionally isolated from the plot. It's a nice exploration of friendship and how we interact with each other but not an especially deep one.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
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