Callie is on the cusp of her teen years. She will begin at the High School next year although not at the High School she was supposed to attend. As an only child there seems be a lot of extra pressure on her from her mother. Callie is a very intelligent girl who finds it hard to fit in with her peer group. Over the course of this week, we see her grow in confidence as she navigates complex relationships with her peers.
Every summer her family visit a holiday house at the beach and two other families come along too. The adults love this summer week spent fishing, golfing, walking and reminiscing about their former days. Every summer the group follow a series of traditions. The kids are forced together but really, they are not friends. In fact, one of the boys regularly teases Callie in quite a vicious way. This summer Callie (full name Calliope-Jean) has decided to reinvent herself beginning with her name. She wants her parents, their friends and the other kids to now call her Callie. So, this is not their first summer staying at Sawyer's Point, but it is the first summer of her new identity as Callie.
Among the group of kids there is a teenage girl named Sasha. Early in the story Sasha takes Callie's very old mobile phone. Sasha loads her own apps on to the phone because her own phone has been confiscated by her parents. Sasha has a plan to stay in touch with her friends and to set up meetings with one of the local boys. As a reader I knew this would most certainly end in disaster.
"Still staring at her screen, Callie opened her mouth to protest and then shut it. whatever she said would be wrong. She didn't want to be part of Sasha's duplicity but she also didn't want her friend to think she was a complete loser."
This summer another boy has joined the group. He is Mitch's cousin. Mitch is the kid who is always so mean to Callie but somehow perhaps because they are close in age these three form an alliance. When they hear someone has been robbing the holiday houses over the summer Owen, Mitch and Callie decide to track down the culprit but this does mean they need to wander the streets of this sleeping seaside village very late at night. And it does mean they see a gang of local kids, their elderly neighbor assisting others with plumbing issues at midnight and later they witness Sasha who should not be out this late at night and who is now in a very a dangerous situation.
This book is easy to read and I think it will be enjoyed by readers aged 11+ who enjoy realistic fiction with a touch of mystery and danger.
Blurb from the author page: It’s the last summer before Callie starts high school and she’s been dragged along to yet another ‘family friends’ holiday. Determined to change her nerdy reputation, Callie sets out to make waves but nothing is quite as she expects. Her usual ally, Sasha, has outgrown Callie; her nemesis, Mitch, has brought his cousin Owen along; and the boring south coast town of Sawyer’s Point has been rocked by a series of burglaries. Callie, Owen and Mitch decide to investigate the robberies, bringing them face to face with a local gang … and a possible ghost. But when Sasha goes missing, Callie must draw on all her smarts to find her friend, and (she) discovers that being Callie McGee has its benefits.
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