A beautiful family A novel

DEBUT Ten-year old New Zealander Alix and her family always go to remote, secluded places for their long holiday, but this year her mother wants to go somewhere "with people," so they rent a vacation house at the beach about two hours from their home. Next door is a creepy older man who always seems to be watching from his balcony. Locals warn that a little girl went missing from the beach two years ago and is presumed to have drowned, so Alix's mother won't let her near the water without a chaperone. Alix's 16-year-old sister declines to look out for her, as does her father, leaving Alix under the watch of her mother, who keeps disappearing. Alix makes friends with a child named Kahu, who suggests they should search for the body of the missing girl. Alix's eventual discoveries, and those of her family, will shock her to her core. Trevelyan captures the naivete and confusion of Alix, who can sense when something is wrong but doesn't always understand why, as big problems make cracks in the facade of her beautiful family. VERDICT Written from Alix's point of view, this suspenseful coming-of-age debut is hard to put down. Readers will sympathize with the young protagonist.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

Summer vacation is not what it seems. Ten-year-old Alix, her 15-year-old sister, Vanessa, and their parents are in a New Zealand beach town for the summer. Vanessa, just old enough to find her family embarrassing, is pining over a school friend's boyfriend. Alix's parents are fighting constantly about things she only partly understands. Meanwhile, Alix has made a new friend, Kahu, a Māori boy also in town for the summer. The beach, with its rough waves and many secrets, is the setting of much of their burgeoning friendship; Alix and Kahu are searching for the remains of a young girl, Charlotte, who went missing a few summers before, presumably drowned. But when they discover a different body, Alix's family risks coming apart entirely. This novel, part mystery and part Bildungsroman, is gripping; every chapter brings an unexpected twist, further complicating and deepening each storyline. Alix is a compelling narrator, though her 10-year-old naïveté can be grating--we understand, through her eyes, that her sister is sneaking out and getting drunk and that her mother is having an affair, but she's not quite able to put the pieces together. And the plot occasionally veers a little toward the predictable (the creepy older man Alix sees watching her does, indeed, turn out to be creepy), without tying up all its loose ends. A compelling--if not fully realized--debut. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.