The Battle of Junk Mountain

For fans of Rebecca Stead and Jennifer L. Holm, this is an atmospheric summer beach read for middle school readers.


Twelve-year-old Shayne Whittaker has always spent summers on the Maine coast, visiting her grandmother Bea and playing with her BFF Poppy. Both Shayne and Bea are treasure seekers, in their own ways: Bea trolls flea markets and garage sales for valuable finds, while Shayne revels in golden memories of gorging on lobster rolls, searching for sea glass, and weaving friendship bracelets with Poppy.

This summer, though, everything has changed. Poppy would rather talk about boys than bracelets, and Bea's collecting mania has morphed into hoarding. Only Linc, the weird boy next door who is obsessed with the Civil War, seems to care about her. Turns out Linc's coveting a treasure of his own. What begins as the worst summer of Shayne's life becomes the most memorable as she learns when to hang on, when to let go, and how to find treasures in unexpected places.