This was one of the first books in my childhood that really impacted me and started turning me into a lifelong reader. I remember emailing the author in 4th grade for a book report because there really was no information out there about them. The email I got back got me so excited. I was given a fake name to use for my book report and as a kid, I was thrilled to be trusted with this information (having believed it was a real name) and ended up not using any of the information given to me for my book report, wanting to keep the secret.

I reread this book in 2021 to see if it still held up now, as an adult reader. And I'm thrilled to say, it still does. Middle grade books have a way of igniting a sense of adventure in the reader that can really only be felt from a book written from a child's perspective. Cass, one of our main characters, is a survivalist. Yes, she's only 11 but she's always prepared for anything with her backpack, in which she carries around all the survival gear she's collected. She is a bit of an outcast and ends up befriending Max-Earnest, also an outcast and our other main character. Max-Earnest is a bit of an odd kid, trying out his comedic skills on his classmates and talking everyone's ears off. But he believes in Cass when no one else did and Cass listens to Max-Earnest when no one else did. And so they become collaborators. When one of their classmates goes missing, Cass and Max-Earnest have to figure out how to save him, since none of the adults around them take their concerns seriously. The two of them embark on the greatest (and most dangerous) adventure of their lives. I've already said too much, as this book contains a secret. Read if you dare.