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This exciting adventure story won a recent Shamrock gold award as the best chapter book of the year. It is very well written with strong characters and a wonderful message. Meet Cassie and her snake; plump, spoiled Marybeth; Jesse, the oldest, a real leader; and Punch who doesn't talk, he just whistles. Cassie and her dad, a traveling construction worker and ex-rodeo rider, drive into the Cro... More

This exciting adventure story won a recent Shamrock gold award as the best chapter book of the year. It is very well written with strong characters and a wonderful message. Meet Cassie and her snake; plump, spoiled Marybeth; Jesse, the oldest, a real leader; and Punch who doesn't talk, he just whistles. Cassie and her dad, a traveling construction worker and ex-rodeo rider, drive into the Crooked Creek Campground one July afternoon. To Cassie it's just one more rundown trailer park and she doesn't like it. Three kids her age watch, but they don't act friendly. She's the new kid again, but Jesse welcomes her. She joins the kids in their tree house beside a nearby river. Punch still doesn't like her, but she doesn't care. Silently they watch a river otter play in the moonlight. Cassie loves the otter and solemnly swears never to tell about it. Next day Cassie finds the otter's den, but she also finds a dangerous toxic dump piled on the riverbank. Before she can tell Jesse, she and Punch are caught in a life-threatening storm and swept down the river. The flood that almost drowned Cassie and Punch has carried toxic trash into the river and the otter has disappeared. Dead fish float by. The kids worry. Is the otter dead too? The kids decide that the dump has to be cleaned up and the river made safe for the otter. With the help of the local newspaper, The Crooked Creek Ripple, and a lively town meeting, the kids convince the people of Crooked Creek to gather together with them to remove the trash and save their beloved animal. Four very different kids become good friends and Cassie finds a home at last.

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