GRAM AND GRAN SAVE THE SUMMER

Three siblings are sent to a curious island to spend the summer with their eccentric grandparents.

Three days before summer break, siblings Nia, D’Angelo, and Deja learn that their summer camp will be closed due to a local wildfire. Instead, they’ll be spending a few weeks with their grandparents in a small island town off the coast of Maine. Upon arrival, they discover a 77-story high-rise with a 100-foot antenna, nicknamed Babel’s Tower after the town’s founder, Barnaby Babel, who disappeared and hasn’t been seen for 30 years. Their grandparents, who live in a penthouse at the very top of the tower, seem a little off, regularly repeating tidbits of wisdom gleaned from local social media star Constance B. Some advice is sensible, but other guidance is a bit suspect, like the suggestion to “eat carrots to improve your night vision.” The grandparents spend most of their time on unprofitable side-hustles like building dollhouses that can fit inside other dollhouses and teaching the chickens on their rooftop how to dance. As the siblings explore the small town and their grandparents’ odd behavior more, they uncover different ways in which the townspeople have been fooled by online information. In these moments, the text turns to a direct address to the reader, asking if they have found a clue or solved a puzzle, along with hints from the three siblings. Chiger and Pereira use these occasional narrative interruptions to provide the definitions of useful media literacy terminology like credible sources, bias, and cherry picking. There are several references to Roald Dahl in the text, and the black-and-white illustrations by Louis Decrevel recall Quentin Blake’s. While the overarching mystery plot does take a while to kick in, the collection of outlandish characters, funny dialogue, and clever wordplay will keep young readers engaged. The overall message and mini-lessons embedded in the text, likewise, never feel shoehorned into the story.

An always amusing story studded with important media literacy lessons.