Meeting Melanie — Nancy Garden

A dangerous drama unfolds on a remote Maine island

Almost-twelve-year-old Allie Ward's summer is not looking especially fun-filled. Seal Island, Maine, is a pretty isolated community, and the only other resident kids her age have suddenly decided they don't want to hang around girls anymore. More important, her lobsterman father has injured his back and isn't able to work his usual job. To compensate, Allie's mother and father are trying to set up a business selling pies. Allie doesn't mind helping her parents out, and she wouldn't want to leave the island for anything, but she longs for a friend. Enter Melanie Rochambeau. She and her family are summering on the island in an elegant home that they've just inherited. Allie and Melanie hit it off almost immediately, but their easy alliance is challenged by Melanie's mother, who turns up her nose at socializing with working-class people. And soon Allie finds herself embroiled in a Rochambeau family secret involving Melanie's older sister. The situation escalates into one that could potentially destroy a family, and even endanger two lives.