Book Review: Uncertain Summer by Jessica Lee Anderson

Uncertain Summer by Jessica Lee Anderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the small town of Uncertain, Texas, Everdil’s twelfth birthday arrives with more surprises than expected, when she learns about the Cryptic Cryptid Productions contest and the one million dollar reward for an authentic photograph or video of Bigfoot. Bigfoot is legend around this part of East Texas.

With a road named after the beast, and a lodge for tourists, even Everdil’s father and grandfather are enthusiasts, and together have scraped enough money to purchase the local marina her father’s worked at over the years, and they plan on continuing the local tours.

Life would be easier for her family if she won one million dollars. But capturing the winning picture isn’t going to be easy. Her thirteen-year-old, brother, Emmett, constantly provokes her. It seems everyone in the family has joined in the “yell-at-Everdil-a-thon" except for Gramps, over her prank with Emmett and the cake, she wishes she could rewind.

When Everdil receives a digital camera with recording features, she hadn’t asked for, she determines it’s fate and her birthday colliding to help her capture the prize photo. Her new camera can also record her mother’s audition for FoodieLand, blaming the last inferior recording on why her mother never heard back.

Everdil forms a team with her brother, Emmett, and Tim, the son of the town’s Bigfoot scholar, and her old best friend, who’s back in town, though time and space have strained their friendship, she must navigate her feelings for what happened between them, as Everdil gets closer and closer to Bigfoot.

Uncertain is a real town in East Texas. The author captures the setting beautifully, the great cypress, the Spanish moss, and the draught. Everdil’s relationships with her family and friends grow on you and feel as real her search for Bigfoot.

A fun and adventurous MG book for readers 9-12 and a perfect “not too scary” book for Halloween.

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