A stunning middle-grade debut--full of heart, humor, and nonstop action.

It's tough to be 13, especially when somebody's trying to kill you. Not that Egg's life was ever easy, growing up on sweaty, pirate-infested Deadweather Island with no company except an incompetent tutor and a pair of unusually violent siblings who hate his guts.

But when Egg's father hustles their family off on a mysterious errand to fabulously wealthy Sunrise Island, then disappears with the siblings in a freak accident, Egg finds himself a long-term guest at the mansion of the glamorous Pembroke family and their beautiful, sharp-tongued daughter Millicent.

Finally, life seems perfect. Until someone tries to throw him off a cliff. Suddenly, Egg's running for his life in a bewildering world of cutthroat pirates, villainous businessmen, and strange Native legends. The only people who can help him sort out the mystery of why he's been marked for death are Millicent and a one-handed, possibly deranged cabin boy.

Come along for the ride. You'll be glad you did.

Geoff Rodkey is the Emmy-nominated writer of the hit films Daddy Day Care, RV, and the Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! He's also written for the educational video game Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, the noneducational MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, Comedy Central's Politically Incorrect, the Harvard Lampoon, and the Let's Go travel guide series. Geoff currently lives in New York City with his wife and three sons. They do not have any pets, mostly because the whole experience with the goldfish was just too upsetting.