Skip to main content
The Best Worst Summer

The Best Worst Summer

Current price: $7.99
Publication Date: May 6th, 2025
Publisher:
Bloomsbury Children's Books
ISBN:
9781547610037
Pages:
240

Description

From the acclaimed author of The Great Shelby Holmes comes a new middle grade story about two summers-three decades apart-and the box of secrets linking them together.

This is going to be the worst summer ever for Peyton. Her family just moved, and she had to leave her best friend behind. She's lonely. She's bored. Until . . . she comes across a box buried in her backyard, with a message: I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. Things are about to get interesting.

Back in 1989, it's going to be the best summer ever for Melissa and Jessica. They have two whole months to goof around and explore, and they're even going to bury a time capsule! But when one girl's family secret starts to unravel, it's clear things may not go exactly as planned.

In alternating chapters, from Peyton in present day to Melissa three decades earlier (a time with no cell phones, no social media, and camera film that took days to develop, but also a whole lot of freedom), beloved author Elizabeth Eulberg tells the story of a mystery that two sets of memorable characters will never forget.

About the Author

ELIZABETH EULBERG is not a detective (or so she claims). She is, however, the internationally bestselling author of The Lonely Hearts Club, Prom & Prejudice, Take a Bow, Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality, Better Off Friends, and We Can Work it Out. Elizabeth lives outside Manhattan, where she spends her free time stalking English bulldogs in her neighborhood and filling her brain attic with random pop-culture facts. The Great Shelby Holmes is her first middle-grade novel.

Praise for The Best Worst Summer

“Deftly switching between the present and the 1980s friendship of white Melissa and Korean adoptee Jess....accomplished mystery writer Eulberg (the Great Shelby Holmes series) highlights the differences between the time frames alongside the timelessness of friendship and misunderstandings.” —Publishers Weekly

“A story about the power of friendship with fun references to New Kids on the Block, pay phones, and beepers. This novel will appeal to readers experiencing big transitions-whether geographical or emotional.” —School Library Journal

“Charming and funny . . . [A] winning adventure.” —Kirkus Reviews on THE GREAT SHELBY HOLMES MEETS HER MATCH

“Mystery lovers will enjoy these characters as much as the case they're working to solve.” —Booklist on THE GREAT SHELBY HOLMES MEETS HER MATCH

“A smart, fresh take on an old favorite.” —Kirkus Reviews on THE GREAT SHELBY HOLMES