For eleven-year-old Tash, Cap'n Jackie isn't just the elderly next-door neighbor -- she's family. When she disappears, only Tash holds the key that might bring...

For eleven-year-old Tash, Cap'n Jackie isn't just the elderly next-door neighbor -- she's family. When she disappears, only Tash holds the key that might bring her back.

Tash didn't want to go to camp, didn't want to spend the summer with a bunch of strangers, didn't want to be separated from the only two people she has ever been able to count on: her uncle Kevin, who saved her from foster care, and Cap'n Jackie, who lives next door. Camp turns out to be pretty fun, actually, but when Tash returns home, Cap'n Jackie is gone. And Tash needs her -- the made-up stories of dolphin-dragons, the warm cookies that made everything all right after a fight, the key Cap'n Jackie always insisted had magic in it. The Captain always said all Tash had to do was hold it tight and the magic would come. Was it true? Could the key bring Cap'n Jackie back? In a heartfelt and stunningly written story, Pat Schmatz introduces readers to a tenacious, fiercely loyal girl struggling to let go of the fantasies and fears of her childhood . . . and say yes to everything that lies ahead.

Author: Pat Schmatz
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Published: 05/08/2018
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.70w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780763695668
Audience: Ages 9-12


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 04/15/2018 pg. 52
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2018
School Library Journal 04/01/2018 pg. 123
Publishers Weekly 06/04/2018
Voice of Youth Advocates 06/01/2018 - Recommended - Better Than Most
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 06/01/2018
Horn Book Magazine 07/01/2018 pg. 122
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2018 pg. 92 - Superior,Well Above Average

About the Author
Pat Schmatz is the author of the critically acclaimed Bluefish as well as Lizard Radio, which won the James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award for exploring and expanding the understanding of gender. Pat Schmatz lives in Minneapolis.


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