In twelve linked episodes set on her Gran's small island off the coast of British Columbia, Becca averts many mishaps and disasters, saving the day with ingenuity, tact, and enough grace to beguile her family and readers alike. Baker's dialogue is true-to-life, witty, and intelligent, and the setting is lovingly depicted. This funny, endearing book should find a wide audience.

A pre-teen visits her grandmother on an island off the coast of British Columbia and learns to appreciate nature, her family and herself. When Becca spends several weeks in February with eccentric Gran at her island home, they have swell adventures hunting for oysters by flashlight, sleeping on the beach and sailing an inflatable boat that nearly capsizes while they watch seals and sea lions. When Becca returns in May to plant Gran's garden, she manages to find the way home when her bossy older cousins get lost. Becca returns to the island in August and makes blackberry jelly with her aunt, swims under the stars with cousins, rescues a baby seal, resurrects Gran's garden and saves the house from a chimney fire. After her parents arrive with a new baby sister and the family gathers to celebrate, it's clear Becca's changed—she's now old enough to swim around the island and she's not the youngest cousin any more. Baker captures the fun as well as frustration of one girl's winter, spring and summer of wonder and growth on a glorious northwest coast island. (Fiction. 9-12)

Gr 4-6-This is an episodic novel about 10-year-old Becca's adventures while staying with her grandmother on a small island off British Columbia. Gran is used to living on her own and doing everything her way, from Scrabble rules to mulching her garden. She is seemingly one rough, gruff character, but as Becca (and readers) spend more time with her, she becomes a person who can learn and change. So does her granddaughter. In the first chapter, the two go oyster hunting at night and Becca finds 17 tiny pearls in one shell. Other adventures involve cousins, the island's only plumber, and the fire department. On several occasions, Becca is the cool head in a sea of panic. From a timid girl who can't understand why anyone would want to live there year-round, she develops into a preteen confident enough to swim with her cousins all the way around an island. Becca also gains a better understanding of, and love for, her extended family. This book has some of the same feel as Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks (Knopf, 2005). It's a fun, old-fashioned family story that might have Becca "all at sea" at first, but the ending shows that she's a good little sailor on life's oceans.-Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.