The Islanders

Mary Alice Monroe, Angela May

• Publisher: Aladdin
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781534427280
• eBook ISBN: 9781534427297

An instant New York Times bestseller!? "Storytelling for young readers at its finest—equal parts summer adventure and environmental suspense…[a] love letter to family, friendship, and the natural world." —Kwame Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The Crossover From New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe comes a beautiful story of friendship, loss, and the healing power of nature in her first book for middle grade readers. Eleven-year-old Jake's life has just turned upside-down. His father was wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jake's spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuary—no cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jake's grandmother doesn't believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games...and no friends. This is going to be the worst summer ever!He's barely on the island before he befriends two other kids—Macon, another "summer kid, " and Lovie, a know-it-all who lives there and shows both Jake and Macon the ropes of life on the island. All three are struggling with their own family issues and they quickly bond, going on adventures all over Dewees Island. Until one misadventure on an abandoned boat leads to community service. Their punishment? Mandatory duty on the Island Turtle Team. The kids must do a daily dawn patrol of the beach on the hunt for loggerhead sea turtle tracks. When a turtle nest is threatened by coyotes, the three friends must find a way to protect it. Can they save the turtle nest from predators? Can Jake's growing love for the island and its inhabitants (be they two-legged, four-legged, feathered, or finned) help to heal his father?

CHAPTER 1

The Ferry to Nowhere

We each have to do our part.

THIS WAS GOING TO BE the worst summer ever! Here I was, waiting for a ferry, forced to spend my entire summer vacation living with my grandma in the middle of nowhere.

Baaaaamp! Loud horn blasts from the ferryboat vibrated the long wooden dock. My stomach twisted at the sound.

“It’s time to board, Jake,” Mom said.

I could tell her smile was fake. I hadn’t seen a real smile on her face for weeks. But neither of us felt like smiling after the phone call about what happened to Dad.

A big sign over the dock read DEWEES ISLAND FERRY. A lot of people were waiting for the white double-decker, standing near their metal carts filled with groceries, suitcases, fishing poles, tackle boxes, even beach chairs. Two small dogs barked in excitement as they trotted past me on leash.

“Do I have to go?” I asked my mom in a last-ditch effort. “I want to stay with you. Please! I’ll be good. I promise.”

Mom’s shoulders slumped. “Jake, we’ve been over and over this. I don’t know how long I’ll be there, and I can’t leave you alone in a rental all day.”

I was trying to be strong. But her words made me explode.

“It’s not fair! You’re dumping me on that island! What kind of summer vacation is this?”

I knew I had crossed the line. Mom was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and flew those giant C-17 transport planes. She was all about duty and following orders. She stepped closer to me, lowering her voice.

“I know you don’t want to go,” she said. I saw a flash of sadness in her eyes. Then she straightened her shoulders and I heard the commander in her voice. “We have to do what’s best for your father now and put our personal wants aside. We don’t know how bad he’s been hurt or how long his recovery will be. This isn’t a vacation, Jake. We each have to do our part. For Dad.”

I lowered my head, ashamed. Still, it was hard hearing that my dad was hurt but not knowing how bad or what happened to him.

“It isn’t good for you to sit around in hospitals all summer. And,” she said, reaching out to lift my chin so I looked into her eyes, “your grandmother needs you. She’s worried about your dad too.”

“I know, but…” I paused to take a shaky breath in. “I want to see him.”

“I know you do. But remember, you’re helping your dad by helping Honey. He’ll feel better knowing you’re with her.”

I scrunched my face and nodded in understanding.

I met her eyes and she flashed a soft smile.

“You’re in charge now, Private.”

She got me there. My dad was an officer in the Army, and he always called me Private. I tugged at my Army ball cap to hide my eyes.

“Yeah,” was all I could muster through the lump in my throat.

“All aboard!” called out the ferry captain.

“Let’s go!” said Mom, trying to be cheerful. I felt her gently nudge my back.

We walked down a metal ramp to the waiting ferry. The mate greeted us and wheeled my cart of stuff on board with everyone else’s belongings.

“I’ll call you as soon as I know anything,” Mom said, and then leaned in to kiss my cheek. “You’ll love Dewees Island. There’s so much to do—the beach, the woods. You had the best time when you were there before.”

“I was six, Mom.”

“Well, you’re almost twelve now, so that means you’ll have twice as much fun.”

“Right. It’s going to be great stuck on an island with no cars allowed, or stores, or restaurants. Are there even people there, other than Honey?”

“Of course there are.”

“At least I can game online with Carlos and Nick.”

Mom’s face cringed. “Well…” She hesitated. “There isn’t any Wi-Fi.”

“What!” I couldn’t believe there was a place on earth without Wi-Fi.

“You mean I not only have to spend my summer away from my friends, I’m stuck alone on some faraway island with my grandma? And I have no internet?” My jaw hung wide open in disbelief. “Tell me you’re joking.”

Mom laughed. I hadn’t heard her laugh since the first phone call about Dad.

“Come on, Jake. You’ve endured far worse. There’s Wi-Fi on the island, just not at Honey’s house. She doesn’t think she needs the internet.” Her voice lowered. “Your grandmother can have strong opinions about things.”

“Or she’s just weird,” I muttered. I had thought things couldn’t get any worse, but they just did.

“Ready!” called out the captain, opening wide the passenger door. He was urging us to go.

“Time to move,” Mom said, trying to sound cheery.

I puffed out my breath. Being a military family, we moved around a lot. I was always the new kid and making friends. I was used to saying goodbye to my parents.

But it never got easier.

“Bye,” I said, looking down.

Mom gave me a quick final hug. I didn’t want to return it. My arms hung limp at my sides.

She stepped off the ferry back onto the deck. I looked over my shoulder to see her walking down the dock, shoulders slumped.

“Mom!” I called out.

She stopped and turned as I ran toward her. She opened her arms, and I ran into them and hugged her with all my might.

“I’ll miss you, Mom,” I said, my face muffled in her chest.

I felt her arms tighten around me. “I’ll miss you too.” She kissed my cheek and I could see the tears in her eyes, just like mine.

“I’ll call you!” she said.

“I love you, Mom,” I called out as I ran back to the boat. The captain waved me inside and shut the door behind me.

Inside, the benches were filling up. I raced up the stairs to the top deck of the ferry. The sun glared hot in the sky, making the metal railing warm to the touch as I leaned over to wave goodbye to Mom.

But she was already gone.

CHAPTER 2

Welcome to the Island

It’s a Huck Finn life.

IN A BLAST OF BUBBLY growls, the ferry’s big engines fired up. The boat moved as slow as a turtle through the Intracoastal Waterway, past Isle of Palms where big white motorboats and Jet Skis waited at docks in front of enormous mansions.

The farther we got from all the docks, the farther away I felt from the world I knew. I wondered what my friends in New Jersey were doing right now on their first day of summer break. I pulled out my phone and texted: Hey guys, what’s up? Check out this selfie of me heading out to no-man’s-land.

I backed out of the text screen and looked at the surrounding landscape. I sure wasn’t in New Jersey anymore. All around me, the blue water spread out as far as I could see. Acres of bright green marsh grass waved in the breeze along the shore. I spied a long line of brown pelicans flying low over the marsh in tight formation, their six-foot wingspans almost touching the water. My dad called them “bombardiers on patrol.”

The clanging of footsteps on the metal stairs caught my attention. Turning my head, I saw a boy standing at the top of the stairs. He looked like he was my age, with short cropped hair and brown skin. I felt a shot of hope that there were other kids on the island. The boy was wearing gold-colored wireless headphones and blue Nikes. My parents would never buy me shoes that expensive. I wiggled my toes inside my sneakers, an old gray pair I’d had since Christmas.

I caught his eye and nodded at him, but the boy acted like he didn’t see me as he walked to the bench farthest away from me, gripping the boat railing.

Suddenly the captain went full throttle. The big engine churned and the boat took off so fast, my ball cap lifted off my head. I lurched after it. My phone slipped from my hand to the floor. I watched, frozen in horror, as it slid across the deck and disappeared over the edge into the white-capped waves that churned below.

“Noooooo!” I yelled.

I gripped the railing and leaned over, staring in shock and disbelief as sprinkles of salty water splashed my face. A white, foamy boat trail faded away into the deep blue. My last connection to home was gone. I swallowed hard and glanced over at the other kid. His hands were locked on the railing like his life depended on it. He cast me a quick glance and shrugged in commiseration.

I plopped down on the bench, my elbows on my knees, my hands feeling empty. The next fifteen minutes were a blur as we raced across the waterway.

When the ferry engines slowed to a gurgle, I looked up. We were approaching the island. I saw a dome of dense green trees and shrubs, like the island was a lost world, shrouded in mystery. I almost expected to see a dinosaur rush out. I stood and returned to the railing and watched as the ferry approached a long wooden dock.

I squinted in the glare of the sunlight and spotted my grandmother standing beneath a wooden sign that said DEWEES ISLAND, SC. WELCOME. Honey was smiling and waving both hands above her head like she’d been shipwrecked and I was coming to save her.

At last the boat stopped. In a whir, the boy in the Nike shoes raced past me down the stairs. I hoisted my backpack and followed him off the ferry and up the dock, our footsteps pounding the wood.

“Jake! My boy!” Honey cried as she wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace. “Child, look at how you’ve grown. You might be taller than me now.”

“That’s not hard to do. Everyone’s taller than you, Honey,” I said.

It had been almost a year since I last saw Honey. She came to stay with me when both of my parents were away on missions. But she looked much older. Her usually tan skin was pale, with a lot more wrinkles on her face than I remembered.

“Let’s get you to the house. You must be starving after that long trip. My cart is parked just over there,” she said, pointing to the long line of golf c...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Chapter 1: The Ferry to Nowhere
• Chapter 2: Welcome to the Island
• Chapter 3: The House in the Trees
• Chapter 4: The Tropical Depression
• Chapter 5: Cat and Mouse
• Chapter 6: New Friends
• Chapter 7: The Journal
• Chapter 8: The Phone Call
• Chapter 9: The Disappointment
• Chapter 10: The Long Dinner
• Chapter 11: The Explorers
• Chapter 12: The Abandoned Boat
• Chapter 13: Crime and Punishment
• Chapter 14: Dawn Patrol
• Chapter 15: Save the Nest!
• Chapter 16: Operation Coyote
• Chapter 17: The Stakeout
• Chapter 18: Independence Day
• Chapter 19: The Long Walk
• Chapter 20: Our Lucky Day
• Chapter 21: A Boy and His Dog
• Chapter 22: The Tests
• Chapter 23: The Emergence
• Chapter 24: The Magic of the Full Moon
• Chapter 25: The Letter
• Chapter 26: A New Beginning
• Chapter 27: The Farewell
• Resources
• Acknowledgments
• ‘Search for Treasure’ Teaser
• About the Authors
• Copyright