For thirteen-year-old Jessie Silva, life on Bayberry Island is at its best in the summertime. That’s when the seasonal renters return to spend their vacations on the island, bringing with them Jessie’s best friend, Amanda. This year, though, change has come to Bayberry. For one thing, there’s a new girl among the summer visitors—a snotty New Yorker named Susan—and she’s driving a wedge between Jessie and Amanda. For another, there are rumors of coyotes roaming the tiny island, and the locals are talking about taking up arms to stop the animals from spreading.
Jessie knows the rumors are true. She’s seen the coyotes, and she knows they have a den and four little pups. She’s been visiting the den in secret, watching the pups play and letting them come close to her. The coyotes have been the only bright spot in her long, lonesome summer. But can she save her new friends from the islanders who want to see them gone at any cost?
$15.00
Margo Solod is the author of Cuttyhunk: Life on the Rock, the story of her fifteen years as a cook and innkeeper on a small island, as well as four chapbooks and one book of poetry. After traveling the United States in a truck with her dog Jesse, she settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her partner and an assortment of rescue dogs. Coyote Summer is the first in the Summerhood Island series.
Formats: Paperback
Pages: 118
ISBN PB: 978-1-9399301-8-7
Release Date: 05/10/2014
“A well-written tale about finding our humanity with the help of a few wild animals.” —New York Times best-selling author Chris Grabenstein
“Pre-teens will be absolutely captured by Jessie’s adventures on Summerhood Island. Her nature-lover’s heart and her friend dilemmas are true to life, and Solod’s swift narrative will have readers turning pages as fast as they can.” —Kirstin Cronn-Mills, author of The Sky Always Listens and The Hills Don’t Care and Beautiful Music for Ugly Children
“Set on an island ripe for adventure, Coyote Summer is a timeless tale about the highs and lows of friendship and the bonds that bring animals and people together. Margo Solod’s story will have readers cheering for young Lancelot and his siblings and wishing for coyote cubs of their own.” —Anna Staniszewski, author of the My Very UnFairy Tale Life series
“Written with such detail, warmth, and sensitivity that even the island itself becomes a character.” —Suzanne LaFleur, author of Eight Keys, Listening for Lucca, and Love, Aubrey
“Margo Solod writes beautifully about island life in New England. Coyote Summer rings true in its tender descriptions of nature and of girls’ friendships. I wish all teenage girls could have a summer like this.” –Laura Brodie, best-selling author of The Widow’s Season and One Good Year
“Exciting plot twists and a cliffhanger near the end. This book is fun for anyone who enjoys nature and loves animals.” –Kathryn Brodie, age 14
“How do you get to know a place? You can get to know Bayberry Island by reading Coyote Summer. Margo Solod shares detail with the eye of a naturalist. The book is infused with a sense of practical wonder that made me keep turning pages. This is a young person’s book of the sort I loved to read both when I was a young person and when my children were young people. Solod’s prose isn’t simplistic and the journey that Jessie, the protagonist, goes through feels very real and important. As we humans continue to encroach upon our fellow beings we need to think about how we impact them. This is a book that asks some of the important questions without being didactic or preachy. Read Coyote Summer in one eager gulp like I did, then go back and read it again slowly to enjoy the nuance. One way or the other, read this book.” —Kim Shuck, author of Rabbit Stories
