While staying with their Aunt Saffronia, the Sinister-Winterbottom siblings visit the Fathoms of Fun waterpark where they find themselves submerged in a mystery when people start disappearing and a suspicious goo bubbles to the surface, among other eerie events. Simultaneous eBook. - (Baker & Taylor)

A middle-grade mystery series that's spooky, creepy, and filled with gothic twists! Meet the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who solve mysteries at increasingly bizarre summer vacation destinations in the hopes of being reunited with their parents—or at the very least finally finding a good churro.

“An absolute delight. If I have to die in a waterpark, I want to die in this one.”—Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Cruel Prince

"Wickedly weird. . . . Will appeal to anyone who loved A Series of Unfortunate Events." —The New York Times

Meet the Sinister-Winterbottoms: brave Theo, her timid twin, Alexander, and their older sister, Wil. They’re stuck for the summer with their Aunt Saffronia, who doesn’t know how often children need to eat and can’t use a smartphone, and whose feet never quite seem to touch the floor when she glides—er—walks.

When Aunt Saffronia suggests a week pass to the Fathoms of Fun Waterpark, they hastily agree. But the park is even stranger than Aunt Saffronia. The waterslides look like gray gargoyle tongues. The employees wear creepy black dresses and deliver ominous messages. An impossible figure is at the top of the slide tower, people are disappearing, and suspicious goo is seeping into the wave pool.

Something mysterious is happening at Fathoms of Fun, and it’s up to the twins to get to the bottom of it. The mystery, that is. NOT the wave pool. Definitely NOT the wave pool. But are Theo and Alexander out of their depth? - (Random House, Inc.)

Kiersten White has never been a lifeguard, camp counselor, or spa masseuse, but she is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including Wretched Waterpark, the first book in the Sinister Summer series, and Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales. She lives with her family near the beach and keeps all her secrets safely buried in her backyard, where they are guarded by a ferocious tortoise named Kimberly.

kierstenwhite.com
@kierstenwhite on Twitter - (Random House, Inc.)

Booklist Reviews

In this first of the Sinister Summer series, White's middle-grade debut, twins Theo and Alexander, along with older sister Wil, are whisked off for the summer to Aunt Saffronia's house. It shouldn't be concerning that they have never heard of her existence before, let alone met her, right? Soon she decides to buy a weeklong pass to the Fathoms of Fun Waterpark and drops them off with only the instructions to find what was lost. Not only is the park nearly empty, it is just plain weird. Employees wear black Victorian clothing, cabanas look like mausoleums (cabasoleum!), and, worst of all, there are no churros! The siblings discover the owner, Mr. Widow, has disappeared, and soon their new friend, Edgar, and Wil disappear as well. Are they the lost things that must be found? Readers who enjoy quirky mysteries will fall in love with the clever and relatable Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who will solve the mystery before their aunt shuffles them off to their next adventure. Grades 3-6. Copyright 2022 Booklist Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

There's something suspicious about the summer vacation that the Sinister-Winterbottom siblings are expected to spend with their Aunt Saffronia. The Sinister-Winterbottom twins, Theo and Alexander, along with adopted older sister Wil, are woken up in the middle of the night by their parents and whisked away—by candlelight, of all things! Now they're with Aunt Saffronia, about whom they know nothing. She brings them to Fathoms of Fun Waterpark to accomplish a task. "Find what was lost," is all she will tell them. Also, something about needing time….No churros to eat, no running allowed, and hardly anyone besides themselves at the park. It's all very weird! In fact, the park is rather Victorian and features parasols instead of sunscreen and mausoleums instead of cabanas. Since the only thing, or person, that seems to be lost is Mr. Widow, co-manager of the park, the Sinister-Winterbottoms decide to find him. The creepy gothic setting, the relationships between the siblings, the cast of unusual characters, and the teasers that this episode is just one part of a much larger puzzle will keep readers hooked. The action moves at a strong clip as the siblings uncover a plot involving impersonation and greed. Aunt Saffronia, however, shows no interest in the intrigue as she announces their next stop: the Sanguine Spa in the Little Translyvanian Mountains. The twins are White; Wil has dark brown skin. Young goths will be all-in for the trippy mysteries. (Mystery. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus 2022 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Twelve-year-old twins Theodora and Alexander Sinister-Winterbottom, and their 16-year-old sister Wilhelmina, encounter the summer-vacation unexpected via White's (the Camelot Rising trilogy) archly told, gleefully macabre series opener. In the middle of a night marked by "urgency and candles," the siblings are transported to a mysterious home to stay with equally mysterious maternal aunt, Saffronia Sinister, who "by all appearances, had never encountered an actual human child before." Telling them to "find what was lost," she drops them off at the Victorian-flavored, unusually grim Fathoms of Fun Waterpark, which features a slide named Oblivion and a wave pool called Cold, Unknowable Sea. Owned by dour Mrs. Widow, the amusement park thrills adrenaline fanatic Theo and unnerves cautious Alexander as they wander the grounds under Wil's nominal supervision, avoiding the lone eatery's mince pie and seeking the recently disappeared Mr. Widow. The caper moves briskly toward a tidy end, popping with witty dialogue and gothic puns, and pitting the twins, their technologically distracted sister, and a newfound ally against avaricious forces while hinting at larger series mysteries around the siblings' parents and collective memories. Alexander and Theo are white; Wil has brown skin. Ages 8–12. Agent: Michele Wolfson, Wolfson Literary. (June)