Middle Grade Review: The Swallowtail Legacy 1: Wreck at Ada’s Reef (Michael Beil)

About This Book:

Twelve-year-old Lark Heron-Finch is steeling herself to spend the summer on Swallowtail Island off the shores of Lake Erie. It’s the first time that she and her sister will have seen the old house since their mom passed away. And while her stepfather and his boys are okay, the island’s always been full of happy memories–and now everything is different.

When Nadine, a close family friend, tells Lark about a tragic boat accident that happened off the coast many years before, Lark’s enthralled with the story. Nadine’s working on a book about Dinah Purdy, Swallowtails’s oldest resident who had a connection to the crash, and she’s sure that the accident was not as it appeared. Impressed by Lark’s keen eye, she hires her as her research assistant for the summer.

And then Lark discovers something amazing. Something that could change Dinah’s life. Something linked to the crash and even to her own family’s history with Swallowtail. But there are others on the island who would do anything to keep the truth buried in the watery depths of the past.

A compelling and complex mystery with a classic feel, Wreck at Ada’s Reef is perfect for fans of The Parker Inheritance, Holes, The Westing Game, and anyone looking for a satisfying puzzle that stretches across decades.

*Review Contributed by Karen Yingling, Staff Reviewer*

Great Summer Mystery

Lark and her younger sister Pip have had a hard go of it. Their father died when they were very young, and their ornithology professor mother married Thomas, whose wife also died. They had a Brady Bunch style family going with his three boys until Lark’s mother died of cancer. For the summer, the family is visiting Swallowtail Island in Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio, where their mother owned a house that has been passed down to the girls. Thomas has a job restoring some pictures at the island museum, so the children are signed up for soccer camps and other activities. A friend of their mother’s, news reported Nadine, is around as well. Nadine is trying to figure out a 75 year old mystery about the death of her grandfather in a boating accident. The local leading family, the Cheevers, own much of the land, and intend to develop it with condos and other less peaceful uses, at the expense of 93-year-old Dinah Purdy, who has been allowed to live on the land because her ancestors worked with the Cheevers. Nadine feels that there’s something not quite right about the accident, and feels there might be a missing will. She hires Lark to help her with research. Lark also plays soccer with Owen Cheever, whom she feels is kind of a jerk, and he becomes the object of her wrath. Clearly, her mother’s death is hitting her hard, and she doesn’t have quite the support she needs. Pip is obsessed with horses, so is glad when Nadine loans her a horse for the summer. As Lark gets further and further into the research, all manner of enticing clues emerge, such as a beautiful glass bird nestled in the cut out pages of an old book and a painting of a much younger Dinah that Thomas is restoring. As she closes in on some important clues, Lark and her siblings, slong with Owen, get drawn into a harrowing chase during a storm that involves jumping from balconies, a frantic horse ride, and a perilous journey on the ferry, followed closely by adults who don’t want secrets to come to light. Can Lark still save the day?

Good Points

Lark is a nuanced and interesting character. She’s not dealing with the death of her mother particularly well, but she is definitely trying to figure out how to proceed with her life in order to help out her younger sister. Swallowtail Island is a fascinating (fictional) setting, and the maps (which I normally don’t like) were really helpful. The history is incorporated well, and the older characters in the book like Dinah, Vietnam vet and active boater Les Finlay, and Dinah’s contemporary Simon Standford. Thomas’ struggles to keep tabs on all five children while remaining employed are very realistic. The highlight, of course, is Lark’s ability to solve mysteries by attention to details and asking the right questions of the right people. Will she be solving more mysteries on the island?

There are lots of clues to follow, and even a transcript of an inquest, so readers who enjoy following along with Lark and trying to figure out the mystery will love this. I find that my attention wavers; I’m perfectly happy to just be told the solution at the end, but I know that many readers like to follow along and guess how things work out.

Beil writes a great, well-developed mystery. The Red Blazer Girls came out in 2009 and Summer at Forsaken Lake in 2012, and they’ve been steady circulators in my library. I’m also a huge fan of how he incorporates Ohio and Lake Erie settings in his work. I’ll be looking forward to a second in this series.

*Find More Info & Buy This Book HERE!*

Tags: Karen Yingling Staff Reviewer, Michael Beil, Middle grade review, Pixel+Ink, The Swallowtail Legacy 1: Wreck at Ada's Reef

Middle Grade Review: The Swallowtail Legacy 1: Wreck at Ada’s Reef (Michael Beil)

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