Ten-year-old Keeper has ruined everything on a special day, so she sets off at night in a little dinghy with her trusty dog and a watchful seagull into the Gulf of Mexico to find her mermaid mother. Keeper is full of magical realism and spot-on writing, and fans of When You Reach Me or My One Hundred Adventures will love this read.

Keeper, by Kathi Appelt, $7.99, Simon & Schuster.

James Bond meets Treasure Island in the action-packed thriller Island of Thieves. When Tom accidentally burns down a shed, his strange Uncle Harvey is the only one willing to take him until his parents return from vacation. Uncle Harvey is planning a South American treasure hunt, and Tom manages to tag long on the quest, putting both of them in great danger.

Island of Thieves, by Josh Lacey, $15.99, Houghton Mifflin.

Both titles available at the Little Shop of Stories, 133A East Court Square, Decatur, 404-373-6300, www.littleshopofstories.com. These mini reviews appeared in Little Shop’s 2012 Summer Reading Guide.