STARRED REVIEW
August 2011

A true summer adventure

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Vampires, ghosts, wizards, angels—they’re hard to escape in books these days. But every once in a while, a kid longs for an old-fashioned summer adventure story, which is exactly what Craig Moodie delivers in his exciting new novel, Into the Trap.

Eddie Atwell is the 12-year-old son of a lobster fisherman on Fog Island. The local lobstermen are being hit by a series of thefts: Nearly 10,000 pounds of lobster have disappeared from fishermen’s holding areas. Meanwhile, Eddie’s father is laid up with a shoulder injury. Eddie wants to help out by catching some striped bass, even though he’s not supposed to go out fishing alone.

That’s how Eddie finds himself on Greenhead Island early one August morning, staring with shock into a tidal pool full of stolen lobsters. Eddie manages to hide from the two thieves who come to check their cache, but he recognizes their voices. One is Jake Daggett, his sister’s boyfriend. What’s worse, Jake recognizes Eddie’s skiff, and he and the other thief, Marty, take it, leaving Eddie stranded.

Luckily for Eddie, an unlikely rescuer is at hand. Briggs Fairfield, a rich, nerdy New York kid who’s AWOL from a nearby sailing camp, is happy to have Eddie aboard. Eddie doesn’t think he and this rich kid have much in common—until he realizes that the camp counselor who has been tormenting Briggs is none other than Marty, one of the lobster thieves. Eddie and Briggs decide to join forces to rescue the lobsters and bring the thieves to justice.

Full of sailing lore and page-turning excitement, Into the Trap is the perfect book to stick into a duffel bag for a young camper—along with a flashlight for reading under the folds of a sleeping bag.

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