From critically acclaimed author Ali Standish (The Ethan I Was Before), the story of one girl’s journey to a magical seaside town, where she uncovers her family’s long hidden secrets and ultimately finds truth and redemption.
Fans of Sharon Creech and Rebecca Stead will be captivated by this story filled with warm humor, mystery, whimsy, and characters you can’t let go. A modern classic in the making!
For years, Miranda has stared at postcards of August Isle, Florida. The town where her mother spent her summers as a girl. The town that Miranda has always ached to visit. She just never wanted it to happen this way.
When she arrives on the Isle, alone and uncertain, to stay the summer with an old friend of her mother’s, Miranda discovers a place even more perfect than she imagined. And she finds a new friend in Sammy, “Aunt” Clare’s daughter.
But there is more to August Isle than its bright streets and sandy beaches, and soon Miranda is tangled in a web of mysteries. A haunted lighthouse. An old seafarer with something to hide. A name reaching out from her mother’s shadowy past.
As she closes in on answers, Miranda must reckon with the biggest question of all: Is she brave enough to face the truth she might uncover?
“A beautifully written story. An emotional journey of family, friendship, loss, and healing.” —Kirkus
Ali Standish is the award-winning author of books for the young and young at heart, including the Carnegie-nominated Ethan I Was Before, August Isle, Bad Bella, Climbers, How to Disappear Completely, Mending Summer, and Yonder. Her books are Junior Library Guild Selections, have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, ALA Booklist, and School Library Journal, have been named as Indie Next titles, and have been nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards. During her years living in a tumbledown Victorian cottage in the UK, she obtained a master’s degree in children’s literature from the University of Cambridge. She now resides in North Carolina with her husband and sons. You can visit her online at alistandish.com.