DropZone

Finn Charles has a four-legged sidekick, a fascination with strange plants, and a not-so-secret desire to put a sign in her yard: “Abandoned girl needs Dad to come home.” A slight exaggeration—she’s almost twelve, old enough to have lived on three continents, curse in four languages, and brew poisons from garden-variety plants. But now she’s landed in Weyanoke Falls, Virginia, waiting for her career-military dad to return from an unnamed-but-dangerous deployment. Finn is desperate for her father’s return—and terrified this might be the mission he doesn’t come back from.

Volunteering at a no-kill shelter leads her to adopt Dotty, a mixed-breed dog with excellent instincts. Then she meets Noah, a quirky neighborhood boy who believes in a local myth: a treasure hidden in the sealed-off rear of the divided house where Finn and her mother now live. Noah is sure the treasure exists—just not where, or what, it actually is.

Tempted by the idea of life-changing riches, Finn, Dotty, and Noah begin to search. But sneaking around under adults’ noses brings only an attic full of bats, a box of rocks, and the sinking fear the treasure is pure fantasy. Still, ever resourceful, Finn and Noah—guided by Dotty’s canine superpowers—race to solve the riddle before a raging fire threatens to destroy everyone, the house, and any treasure hidden inside.