Mystery on Pine Lake (PB)

Tamra Wight lives in Turner, Maine. For twenty-five years, she and her husband and their two children ran the nearby Poland Spring Campground, which provided her with plenty of inspiration for her spirited and exciting fiction. She weaves details from her daily life into her work, drawing on everything from campground chores to unexpected wildlife encounters to inform her writing. During the school year, she is a teaching assistant at Whittier Middle School in Poland, Maine. All four Cooper and Packrat Adventures, Mystery on Pine Lake, Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest, Mystery of the Missing Fox and Mystery of the Bear Cub are Junior Library Guild selections. When Tamra isn't writing, she enjoys wildlife watching, hiking, geo-caching, kayaking, power-walking, and snowshoeing. She can often be found (for those who know where to look) hiding under her “cloak of invisibility,” a huge poncho-shaped camouflage cloth that she uses to disguise herself from passing skunks, coyotes, and foxes.

Carl DiRocco is a graduate of the New England School of Art & Design, and has illustrated Dear Big, Mean, Ugly Monster (a Minnesota Humanities Book Award Finalist) and Our Principal Promised to Kiss a Pig (a Children's Choice Selection). Carl lives in Reading, Massachusetts, and loves to camp with his wife and three sons.

"Packed with intrigue and sweet humor, this mystery with a conservation twist will grab young readers . . . Wight has penned a winning cast of characters, dialogue that sparkles and a plot that flies. DiRocco's detailed and humorous black-and-white illustrations elevate the book's charm even higher. A story that should turn even the most finicky readers into happy campers." —Kirkus Reviews

"With an engaging voice, reluctant camper Cooper Wilder tells a story of environmental intrigue for outdoorsy middle-grade readers. As a summer camp owner herself, author Tamra Wight has young readers tasting the oozing s'mores, smelling the stench of maggot-riddled trash, and feeling the squishy mud between their toes with her descriptive language. Quirky characters and realistic dialogue will make this suspenseful eco-mystery a favorite summer read of any wildlife-lover."
– ForeWord Reviews

"Mystery and adventure make this a suspenseful, can't-put-it down book, but it's Cooper and Packrat's blind determination to save the loons against all odds that will steal your heart. I closed the book longing to hear that beautiful call only a loon can make."
– Jo Knowles, author of the award-winning See You at Harry's  

“Cooper & Packrat: Mystery on Pine Lake” is a clever, light-hearted whodunnit for middle-grade readers by Poland author Tamra Wight. Wight and illustrator Carl DiRocco have produced a smart story of friendship, family responsibility and wildlife stewardship — all wrapped up in an entertaining tale of intrigue and suspense.

– Bill Bushnell, Kennebec Journal