Cara’s mother has disappeared. Her father isn’t talking about it. Her big brother Max is hiding behind his iPod, and her genius little brother Jackson is busy studying the creatures he collects from the beach. But when a watery specter begins to haunt the family’s Cape Cod home, Cara and her brothers realize that their scientist mother may not be who they thought she was—and that the world has much stranger, much older inhabitants than they had imagined. With help from Cara’s best friend Hayley, the three embark on a quest that will lead them from the Cape’s hidden, ancient places to a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea. They’re soon on the front lines of an ancient battle between good and evil, with the terrifying “pouring man” close on their heels. One chapter will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until all 10 chapters are up. These will be followed by the second book in the series, The Shimmers in the Night. A Junior Library Guild Pick; Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011; Selected for the ABC Best Books for Children Catalog; Locus Notable Books.

[C O M P L E T E D] Finished on 1 Jan 2019 It is now the 22th Century and the year is 2112. Times are extremely different from the 21st Century. Now, the world is divided into only four continents- and Alara Berrera resides in Excidium. In Excidium, children are kidnapped from the low-class families who live in the rural areas. This is done to 're-populate' the upper-class families of Excidium- as well as the Governors, who rule this particular country. At age eight, Alara Berrera witnessed the kidnapping of her brother who was kidnapped by the Amorals. After the traumatic incident, her mother fell ill and the Berrera family collapsed. The Amorals are a group of people working for the Governors- the ruling party in Excidium- and do their dirty work for them, such as kidnapping young children from poor Exicidiums. Ever since that fateful day, Alara is determined to fight against them as she believes that she will have a better life once that is accomplished. However, what will Alara do to get what she wants, and what will it cost her? What secrets would she uncover as she tries to reunite her family? WINNER of LITWITSAWARDS (2018-2019) action category: 1ST PLACE WINNER of AURORA AWARDS (2019) action/adventure category: 3RD PLACE - h i g h e s t r a n k s (2019 -2020) (12.04.2020) #8/285K - MYSTERY #11/353K - ADVENTURE #215/33.9K - DYSTOPIAN #110/10.7K - FANTASYADVENTURE (06.04.2020) #6/352K - ADVENTURE #222/284K - MYSTERY #94/10.7K - FANTASYADVENTURE (20.02.2019) #1/14 - FLOADV2019 #39/380 - BEGINNER #211/ 2.31k- SADSTORY (9.05.2019) #1/16 - FLOADV2019 #270/321k - ADVENTURE (21.09.2020) #4/377K - ADVENTURE #75/4K - EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER #276/306K - MYSTERY #84/13.3K - FANTASY ADVENTURE (29.11.2020) #1/619 - HERBS #2/987 - SPECULATIVE #11/313K - MYSTERY #8/272 - COMPLETESTORY #875/26K - SERIES

A short time after her fight with Oranta the Monkey Queen, Julie "The Jungle Girl" Vidic finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery that could threaten the peace on her adopted home of Greystoke Island between the modern scientific researchers and the native Teo Tribe.