OXBOW ISLAND GANG

In this novel, a boy and his friends find themselves called upon to rescue an island’s wildlife from imminent disaster.

Every year, anxious Berend “Bear” Houtman visits his grandmother on Oxbow Island in Maine. In this follow-up to Oxbow Island Gang: Winter Crows (2023), readers are treated to a fourth installment of Chalmers’ children’s book series as 12-year-old Bear travels to the island in April. But before he even gets on the ferry from the mainland, he realizes something is wrong: There are ambulances and fireboats everywhere. It isn’t until he reunites with his science-loving best friend, Olivia; his grandmother; and his relative’s neighbors that he finds out a terrible accident involving a longtime island resident has happened. In learning more about it, Bear and his cohorts investigate the site where it occurred, and they find a startling number of dead frogs: “In ten minutes, they had counted four malformed dead frogs, nine normal flattened frogs, and one salamander.” Bear, Olivia, grouchy Director of Public Works Rex, and their friends work together to track down the answers to this environmental mystery while they work to support the accident victims’ return home. In telling this story, Chalmers seamlessly weaves together multiple plotlines involving different island residents in a way that reflects the diversity and strength of the community in the small Maine town. Bear, as a non-native and an enthusiastic learner, provides a helpful entry point for readers interested in local ecology and activism. Hogan’s occasional soft black-and-white pencil illustrations help to provide atmosphere, while her map shows just how cozy the island is. This expertly plotted novel will appeal to older elementary-age readers of novels like Carl Hiaasen’s classic Hoot (2002) and Michele Weber Hurwitz’s Hello From Renn Lake (2020).

A tightly woven mystery that will leave readers excited to make changes in their communities.