THE ATTRACTION

In this YA novel, a creepy roadside attraction becomes a dangerous catalyst for a teenager, unraveling family secrets.

Sixteen-year-old Nate Cortland eagerly anticipates that his upcoming summer job at the San Francisco Bay Area’s Golden Gate Racquet Club will have a positive effect on his dating life. Those high hopes are dashed when his single mom, a cyberforensics expert, informs Nate and his 11-year-old sister, Lily, that they’ll be spending the summer with Uncle Kevin “just to be on the safe side.” His mom’s sudden “I have a bad feeling” hunches have meant middle-of-the-night moves from one apartment to another before, but she’s never sent them to stay with her brother (“A precarious branch on the family tree,” thinks Nate). Kevin, who lives on the Sacramento River Delta in a Podunk town, runs a weird roadside attraction called the Owl Harbor House of Illusion. Even worse, the siblings’ mom confiscates their cellphones so they won’t be tracked, leaving them at Kevin’s with just a landline and no internet. Throw in the mystery of mom’s disappearance; Nate’s feelings for soulful teen Mia; the seeming emergence of Lily’s psychic abilities; and the House of Illusion’s tie to a legendary treasure and the menacing bumblers who seek it, and the protagonist will have a summer to remember. Anchored by the authenticity of Nate’s voice (observant, salty, and genuinely witty), Polito’s second YA novel is a deft mix of tension, humor, and surprising poignancy, with a “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you” twist. The narrative is lively with situational antics and Nate’s penchant for amusing quips, yet his angry anxiety about his mother and his irritation with and protectiveness of his little sister ring true. Also realistic are Nate’s maturing sense of self, evident in his encounters with some dubious local teens, and his changing views of his offbeat family. Mia’s calming presence, hard-won after a personal tragedy that she confides to Nate (and the reason she paints), is a graceful counterpoint.

An engaging and moving blend of comedy, suspense, and a well-defined male teen voice.