The Bigfoot Files

Eager (Race to the Bottom of the Sea) crafts an appealing novel about 12-year-old Miranda Cho—a straight-A student, compulsive list maker, and unlikely student body president. Her chaotic cryptozoologist mother Kat, the blogger behind the fictional Bigfoot Files blog, lives for the chase, but Miranda is tired of missing school to seek mythical animals. She longs for proof of their existence—or not—all the while hoping that her absent father will return. Tension heightens when Miranda discovers stacks of bills and foreclosure notices that threaten the family’s home, not to mention her dream of attending leadership camp in Washington, D.C. Miranda agrees to take one final trip to persuade her mother that fantastical creatures do not exist, but the adventure takes a drastic turn when their van breaks down, and roles reverse in crisis. Eager effectively sketches Miranda’s embarrassment about her mother’s offbeat ways and her beaten-up “Critter Mobile” (a van with antlers). While the idea of who is the real parent repeats, and some pacing drags, Eager makes a case for belief—in the uncanny, sure, but most of all in the people one loves. Ages 10–14. [em]Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary. (Oct.) [/em]