Belly spends the summer she turns sixteen at the beach just like every other summer of her life, but this time things are very different.

"Beloved New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs returns with a compulsively readable tale of an idyllic California beach town forced to reckon with scandal when a high school valedictorian's speech reveals secrets that shake the town to its core"-- Every town has its secrets... In idyllic Alara Cove, a California beach town known for its sunny charm and chill surfer vibe, it's graduation day at the elite Thornton Academy. At Thornton, the...

"It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come. But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach...

A little dog's paralyzing anxiety gives way to bravery when someone smaller arrives in need during a whooshy, splashy, overwhelming day at the beach.

"Ty turns an ordinary day in the sandbox into a fun beach day. He wiggles his toes in the sand, finds seashells, builds a castle, and splashes in the ocean. When his neighbor's beach ball flies into his backyard, Ty learns that a beach day is even better with a friend"--

Publisher Annotation: "This is my ocean," the young girl begins as she heads over the dunes with her mother. Then, as they pass the whole day at the seaside, she lyrically describes her ocean in simple, sensory detail. It's both "slimy" and "sandy," "sparkly" and "dull." It has wonderful sounds, as it "splashes and crashes and echoes and squawks." And it contains so many colors, from "rusted orange" to "runaway red," "faded white" to "polished green."...