The Secret Island of Edgar Dewitt

Book excerpt: Edgar Dewitt is the new kid in town. Moving from Alabama to Mount Lanier, Washington has been quite the change, and Edgar quickly realizes making new friends won't be as easy as he thought. On his first day in town, he meets one of Mount Lanier’s best: the incorrigible Chris Weedy, who’s as bright as a sack of socks and as mean as you can get. One day while exploring the woods behind his new house, Edgar discovers something mysterious: an old abandoned cabin. But the real magic happens when he finds something even more magnificent inside the cabin itself: a dark and ominous hole. After studying the hole for a few days, Edgar musters his courage and jumps in feet first. It takes him straight through the center of the earth to a tiny island in the middle of the Indian ocean, and Edgar knows he’s stumbled upon something ancient. Something secret--a seemingly impossible way to journey to the other side of the world. For the next several weeks, the island becomes a sanctuary where Edgar can escape Chris Weedy’s cruel taunting and his parents’ constant questions. But a sudden, nearby wildfire threatens to engulf the town in flames and take Edgar’s volunteer firefighter father along with it. Edgar must act fast and decide between saving his new town or keeping his newly found safe haven.