Starred Review A week after their mother disappears, leaving behind her cell phone and a marginally reassuring note that includes neither contact information nor a return date, 12-year-old Max and his younger sister accompany their grandmother to the lakeside cabin where their mother's family had vacationed every summer. In strange, ultra-real dreams, they join a group of young people at the lake, where they enjoy an unusual sense of freedom, and the older kids protect and nurture the younger ones. The children gradually mature into versions of themselves that are more aware of how they affect others on a personal level and within a broader context. But soon the lake cabins will be destroyed to make way for a new development. Readers will find intriguing characters, a riveting story line, and puzzles within puzzles, including time-shift elements. While his mother's disappearance is continually disturbing for Max and his family, his immersion into another setting allows him to bring new information and a changed perspective to the mystery. Written with great immediacy, the scenes involving the lakeside group offer oblique clues to solving the questions that underlie Max's thoughts and motivate his actions: Can anyone protect this apparently magical place? Can he protect his mother? A compelling novel that challenges readers and rewards them as well.

The second sleep of the night is often the sweetest.Twelve-year-old Max's mom has disappeared, leaving only a cryptic voicemail message saying that she's OK and is going to help an old friend. He and his 8-year-old sister, Rosie, go with Mozelle, their maternal grandmother, to help clean out her family cabin and distract themselves. Expecting a boring week (no Wi-Fi!), Max is surprised to meet Lila, who is a fast and loyal friend, and her friends: Lenny, Dee, and shy, artistic Henry. But he realizes he only sees them when he falls into his second sleep, the period of rest after a middle-of-the-night spell of wakefulness, during which he enters into a magical dream world-or is it? Fun nights, but slow days, are interspersed with concern about his mother, as no new information comes to light about her whereabouts. Getting to know his new friends better, Max thinks he might see a link between them and his mother's disappearance. Max's attempts to solve his present tie directly to figuring out his mother's past, something he cannot accomplish on his own. This is a book for those who love adventure, mystery, and journeys to self-realization. It's a story with depth and heart, with fully fleshed out characters and, even though the opportunity is there, a delightful lack of cynicism. Characters present as White.At once magical and rooted in reality, an engaging story of life, love, family, and heart. (Fantasy. 8-12)

After their mother disappears, to distract from their worry, Max and his sister Rosie are sent with their grandmother, Mozelle, to help close up her lake cabin, a place where their mom spent her childhood summers. Without electricity, they go to bed early and experience the phenomenon of "second sleep," where people spend some time awake in the middle of the night (Max goes outside and stargazes) before falling back asleep. According to Mozelle, the children's mother said she "dreamed more vividly during her second sleep, and that her dreams were sweeter." Their first night there, Max learns what she means: thinking he's awake, he meets Lila, a girl from a neighboring cabin who takes him to the lake, where a group of kids hang out unsupervised. Some of the older ones are teaching Rosie to play chess, and he sees how it boosts her confidence. On waking, he realizes it was a dream -- and Rosie's had the same one. Over the week the siblings spend at the cabin, the kids in the dream community (which doesn't existsynchronously in real life) assist Max in sorting out his symptoms of anxiety and inspire his art. They even help him figure out why his mom has gone missing. This gentle but uplifting tale is very much an internal journey, with calmness and creativity at heart; but enough mystery is sprinkled throughout (who are the lake kids? where is Max and Rosie's mother?) that the pace never stagnates. Anita L. Burkam

The second sleep of the night is often the sweetest.Twelve-year-old Max's mom has disappeared, leaving only a cryptic voicemail message saying that she's OK and is going to help an old friend. He and his 8-year-old sister, Rosie, go with Mozelle, their maternal grandmother, to help clean out her family cabin and distract themselves. Expecting a boring week (no Wi-Fi!), Max is surprised to meet Lila, who is a fast and loyal friend, and her friends: Lenny, Dee, and shy, artistic Henry. But he realizes he only sees them when he falls into his second sleep, the period of rest after a middle-of-the-night spell of wakefulness, during which he enters into a magical dream world-or is it? Fun nights, but slow days, are interspersed with concern about his mother, as no new information comes to light about her whereabouts. Getting to know his new friends better, Max thinks he might see a link between them and his mother's disappearance. Max's attempts to solve his present tie directly to figuring out his mother's past, something he cannot accomplish on his own. This is a book for those who love adventure, mystery, and journeys to self-realization. It's a story with depth and heart, with fully fleshed out characters and, even though the opportunity is there, a delightful lack of cynicism. Characters present as White.At once magical and rooted in reality, an engaging story of life, love, family, and heart. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Gr 57 Max and Rosie's life was typical, even boring, until one day their mother suddenly disappeared. Their dad doesn't have much to say about it, and no one else seems to be very worried, until the day that Max finds her cell phone hidden in a drawer in their home, and the reason for her absence becomes even more mysterious. After this discovery, the strange message she left comes to light, and Max begins to fear in earnest. When Grandma Mozelle suggests that they get out of the city, away from the questions about their mother, and visit her rustic family cabin before its sale to a developer is finalized, even stranger things begin to happen. Max and Rosie discover that there is no electricity at the cabin and get into the habit of sleeping twice through the night. During this "second sleep" is where they begin to dream of a group of kids who do not exist in the here and now. This magical realism story hooks readers from the beginning. The mystery surrounding Max's mother's disappearance, Mozelle's explanation of what a second sleep is, and the dream world where readers meet Lila will keep them wanting more. VERDICT Purchase for collections where realistic fiction with a fantastic twist, such as The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm, is popular. Sara Brunkhorst, Glenview P.L., IL