Mia is glad to be moving back to Burlington, Vermont, after two years in Boston. She’s given up gymnastics, following a broken arm and six months spent recuperating on the couch. Because it’s summer, her mom wants her to sign up for two themed day-camps: “one active, and one educational.” Mia really doesn’t want to do the gymnastics camp in her mom’s brochure, but the Launch Camp for Young Entrepreneurs looks interesting. Maybe Mia can "learn stuff to help Gram with her cricket farm.” And she reluctantly signs up for Warrior Camp, even though it’s in the same building as gymnastics.
The family has ostensibly come back to Burlington to help Gram transition into retirement after suffering a mild stroke, but it turns out that Gram is all fired up to expand her cricket farm, instead. The trouble is that accidents keep putting the business (and the crickets) in danger, and it's beginning to feel like someone is trying to sabotage the place. Mia and her new friends dig into the mystery and launch the Chirp Challenge, a campaign designed to save Gram's farm. Along the way, Mia learns some important truths about how to deal with a problem of her own, one she’s kept hidden for a long time.
This is strong, multi-layered middle grade, in which Mia's inner, emotional through line compliments the more active, mystery-based plot concerning Gram and her cricket farm. Mia’s growth is satisfying and readers will root for her as she learns to take a stand for what she believes in.
Really, don’t miss this one!
--Lynn
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