Description
A brand-new middle-grade mystery series that’s spooky, creepy, and filled with gothic twists! Meet the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who solve mysteries at increasingly bizarre summer vacation destinations in the hopes of being reunited with their parents—or at the very least finally finding a good churro.
Brave Theo, her timid twin Alexander, and their older sister, Wil are the Sinister-Winterbottoms. They’re stuck for the summer with their Aunt Saffronia, who doesn’t know how often children need to eat and can’t use a smartphone, and whose feet never quite seem to touch the floor when she glides—er—walks. When Aunt Saffronia suggests a week pass to the Fathoms of Fun Waterpark, they hastily agree. But the park is even stranger than Aunt Saffronia. The waterslides look like gray gargoyle tongues. The employees wear creepy black dresses and deliver ominous messages. An impossible figure is at the top of the slide tower, people are disappearing, and suspicious goo is seeping into the wave pool. Something mysterious is happening at Fathoms of Fun, and it’s up to the twins to get to the bottom of it. The mystery, that is. NOT the wave pool. Definitely NOT the wave pool. But are Theo and Alexander out of their depth?
My Thoughts
Kids who enjoy a little snark with their scary stories will appreciate this ridiculous romp through the most imaginative water park ever created. Everything about this book works – the well-matched and very capable group of 3 siblings, the kooky and mysterious aunt, the even more mysterious week at the water park and the deliciously odd but appealing mystery to be solved.
I was reminded a little of Lemony Snicket but the tone, plot, and characterizations are unique enough to keep you reading.
Recommended.
Praise from the Field
“Like a big waterslide that you scream all the way down, only to laugh in relief and get right back on, this book is gothically hilarious and an absolute delight. If I have to die in a waterpark, I want to die in this one.”—Holly Black, #1 NYT bestselling author of The Folk of the Air series
“Packed with wordplay and mock-gothic mystery, this first title in the Sinister Summer series is perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket, Edward Gorey and Roald Dahl.”—Shelf Awareness
Publication Date: June 7, 2022
Published By: Random House Children’s: Delacorte Press
Thanks t NetGalley for the review copy
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