Rock Harbor Search and Rescue Book Description:
In Rock Harbor Search and Rescue, a middle grade fiction novel based on Colleen Coble’s bestselling Rock Harbor series for adults, kids will enjoy the mixture of pets, adventure, suspense, and a mystery.
Emily O’Reilly is obsessed with all things Search and Rescue. She volunteers with the team and goes on rescue missions with her stepmom. She is even selling homemade jewelry to save up for her own Search and Rescue puppy. But when an expensive necklace is stolen from a renowned jewelry artist at Rock Harbor’s fall festival and Emily is accused of the crime, it looks like she’ll never get her puppy and be able to join the Rock Harbor Search and Rescue team.
Emily isn’t willing to give up on her Search and Rescue dreams that easily, and she sets out to find the real culprit and to restore her reputation. With a few suspects in mind, Emily is determined to uncover the truth, but she isn’t prepared for the secrets she and the Search and Rescue dogs sniff out in the process. This exciting mystery is filled with twists and turns that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and have them pining after a Search and Rescue puppy of their own!
About the Authors:
Colleen Coble is the author of more than forty books, most of them bestsellers. Some of her most recent novels are Lonestar Angel, The Lightkeeper’s Ball, Blue Moon Promise, and Anathema, an Amish suspense. One of her most popular series is the Rock Harbor mystery series featuring Bree and Samson, a search-and-rescue dog team. She has won the Carol Award numerous times as well as romance and mystery awards. She lives in Wabash, Indiana with her husband Dave.
Born and raised in Louisiana, Robin Caroll is a southerner through and through. Her passion has always been to tell stories to entertain others. Robin’s mother, bless her heart, is a genealogist who instilled in Robin the deep love of family and pride of heritage—two aspects Robin weaves into each of her 15 published novels. When she isn’t writing, Robin spends time with her husband of twenty-plus years, her three beautiful daughters and two handsome grandsons, and their character-filled pets at home—in the South, where else? She gives back to the writing community by serving as Conference Director for ACFW. Her books have finaled/placed in such contests as the Carol Award, Holt Medallion, RT Reviewer’s Choice Award, Bookseller’s Best, and Book of the Year.
Book Details:
Age Range: 8 – 11 years
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (April 9, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400321069
ISBN-13: 978-1400321063
Retail Price:
Ebook version also available
My Thoughts:
Regular readers of Colleen Coble’s Rock Harbor series will recognize some familiar faces (both human and canine) in this newest young adult series. In Search & Rescue, we enter into the lives of Emily and Olivia. When Olivia comes to stay with Emily while her parents are out of town, they quickly find themselves trying to figure out who is causing Emily to be under suspicion for the theft of a valuable necklace. No one seems to believe that Emily didn’t take the necklace, so Olivia and Emily decide to do some detective work on their own.
I enjoyed this book even though I’m not the target age for the book. For the most part, I would have no issue allowing Munchkin to read this book as it was clean. The boy/girl relationships are handled in a Christian manner. They have the typical crush type of thing going on here and there, but nothing inappropriate. The one thing that did bother me in this book was the treatment of Emily by her father. He automatically assumed the worst and treated her poorly. This is not the type of father/daughter relationship that I like to see in a Christian, young adult book – especially when the family is a Christian family.
Seeing Emily be such a responsible young lady and earning the money to help purchase her own SAR (search & rescue) dog, was a nice change of pace from a lot of the books out there. While Emily had an issue with eavesdropping, she did respect adults and tried to keep a Christ-like attitude even during the rough times.
Disclosure: I received an electronic copy of this book from NetGalley to provide feedback to the publisher. All opinions are my own.
