This is a wholesome and poignant, "summers on the lake" read, with an emotional resonance beyond that of its target middle-grade audience. Adam has to deal with relatable changing family dynamics, and Alice brings joy into his life and the page. The pacing is more introspective than action-packed, and there is a quality of nostalgia and timelessness, as hinted at by the cover, that could make this a great parent/guardian-and-child readalong.

Sweet, thoughtful middle grade novel. It skewed younger than I'd expected initially, but definitely worth reading and sharing with the younger readers in your lives.

A sweet coming of age story.

My biggest problem was the writing style. It was just not my thing. It felt a bit too simple for me.
The story line was really sweet, fun and heartwarming. The mystery was rather easily guessed but that didn't really matter

I think this is a decent YA novel. It deals with some issues and gives a great example of growing up. While it was a bit on the light side for me, I can understand that is because I lean much more towards "adult" fiction. If I were twelve, I think I really would have gotten something out of this book.