Wide Eye

A whimsical middle-grade adventure about a young girl, a wacky museum, and a local monster, exploring the transformative power of imagination.

For kids ages 8-10 who love Rebecca Stead and Dan Gemeinhart!

Every year, 10-year-old Meridian spends her summer with Grandpa Frank on Wide Eye Lake, where she helps out at his quirky museum dedicated to the mysterious Wide Eye monster.

But this year, something is different. Tasked with organizing the museum's old files, Meridian stumbles across more than just faded photos and scribbled sightings of mysterious paw prints. Hidden among the clutter are some old mementos that unlock a long-buried family secret—one that turns her entire world upside down.

Not only does Meridian have a family mystery to solve, but this summer she has to avoid 2 prankster classmates who just so happen to be vacationing nearby. Summer at Wide Eye Lake really isn't turning out to be the magical escape it used to be. Can Meridian rediscover the magic of the lake and the local stories she once loved, or will her family be forever changed?

Wide Eye is a heartwarming, family-focused middle-grade adventure that explores the power of imagination and the healing nature of friendship.Table of Contents
1 The Summer Plan 11
2 Y2K 16
3 Welcome, Believers 22
4 Golden 28
5 Alone 36
6 A Pattern 41
7 Strong Reactions 51
8 Wide Butt Guy 55
9 Sir Frank Frank 60
10 Bits and Bits 69
11 Green Lights 73
12 The Tape 78
13 His Name 83
14 Jo Ha Dog Trail 91
15 Press Play 96
16 Pros and Cons 104
17 The Photograph 111
18 Everyone Laughed 114
19 The Beast 121
20 It’s Time 125
21 A Lie 130
22 Figure It Out 136
23 A Good Story 141
24 A Friend Like That 148
25 About August 156
26 Hard Hope 159
27 Duck Butt 167
28 Unstuck 175
29 The Opening 180
30 Always 185"Heartfelt and mysterious - a monster success!"
—Ross Welford, author of Time Traveling with a Hamster

"A gentle and thoughtful exploration of family secrets, grief and the nature of urban legends. It's funny, charming and filled me up with nostalgia for those long, soporific summers in childhood."
—Philippa Leathley, author of Inkbound

"Warm, fun and thoughtful... it was a joy to spend time with these rich, vivid characters and the legend of the Wide Eye monster."
—Rebecca Orwin, author of The Monsters at the End of the World

"A beautiful book that explores family, friendship and the ways in which stories and belief in the unknown can help us see the world in new ways and from different perspectives."
—Eilish Fisher, author of Fia and the Last Snow Deer

"Wide Eye is a great story with a really relatable central character... What this book captures so well is the "growing up moments" Meridian learns how families are messy and complicated but also how much love binds us together."
—Cath Howe, author of Ella on the Outside

"A gem of a novel - a masterclass in how to write for children and make them laugh but also challenge them."
—Iqbal Hussain, author of The Night I Borrowed Time

"A heartwarming summer tale of family secrets, legendary creatures and the unforgettable bond between a ten year old girl and her Grandpa."
—katys_book_shelf
Jennifer Liss has worked in educational publishing for 20 years. She has written dozens of books for struggling readers, and is the 2022 recipient of the merit-based Highlights Foundation Lee Bennett Hopkins Scholarship. Jennifer lives in California and enjoys spending time in small, out-of-the-way towns like Wide Eye, that harbour lots of secrets.Nobody knew for sure how Wide Eye Lake got its name. Some said that it came from the first white settlers who were struck wide-eyed with its beauty, while others said it came from the lake’s strangely symmetrical, eye- like shape. Ten-year-old Meridian Cunningham-Frank insisted the name came from the monster itself, with its large, glowing eyes.

She wasn’t the only one. Frank Frank, her grandpa, did too.

Meridian and her grandpa co-managed the museum at Wide Eye Lake, where she should have been going, this first Saturday morning of summer. But Meridian’s mom, Lupine Frank, was holed up in her bedroom, like always, doing who knows what.

Slumped against her duffle bag in the hallway, Meridian stared at her parents’ half-closed door. She fiddled with her necklace of monster teeth, tapping them against each other like beads on an abacus.

For as long as Meridian could remember, her summer plan unfolded in the same way. First, Meridian and her mom drove the four hours and twenty minutes to Wide Eye Lake, while Meridian’s dad, Christopher Cunningham, stayed behind to play pickleball and work his job as a regional assistant sales associate, whatever that meant. Her mom, a freelance cookbook illustrator, could draw roasted carrots and minced dill anywhere. While Meridian assumed her museum duties, her mom trekked off alone to a remote shack deep in the woods of the Wide Eye Lake basin. What did Lupine do by herself in the forest for most of the summer? Meridian didn’t ask because her mom wasn’t exactly known for her detailed responses. She was like the dented desktop safe Meridian had bought for a buck at a garage sale. Punching in the right passcode didn’t always get you in.

Furthermore, while Meridian loved her mom, loved to watch the way she could magically make a stroke of cobalt paint become a ripe blueberry, loved to bury her face in her mom’s frizzy hair, she didn’t need Lupine or Christopher over the summer. She had Grandpa Frank Frank and a responsibility, a big one.

Meridian’s summer plan, tried and true.

But now she loitered in the hallway, willing her mom to emerge, willing the summer plan to commence. Her parents spoke in hushed voices.

“You know I love the big weirdo and he’s always treated me like a son, as different as we are. But Meridian is getting older and—”

Lupine interrupted. “And what, Christopher?” Meridian heard zipping and her mom mumbling.

“All I’m saying is that Frank has a very large influence on our daughter.”

Lupine sighed. “It’s a good thing. He’s her only living grandparent.”

“It was a good thing when she was little,” Christopher said. “She’s getting older.”

“You already pointed that out. I don’t understand what you’re really saying.”

A dresser drawer closed, and Christopher tried again. “The museum, well it’s sort of an institution at this point, such as it is. I know Meridian looks forward to going all year. I know. It’s just that… Lupine? You’re doing that thing again. Fading away. Could you please focus on me for a second?”

A latch clicked.

“Don’t you think this is the year?” Christopher asked.

“Don’t you think it’s time? Meridian should know… I mean she deserves to know the truth. Right?”

“Meridian! Are you eavesdropping?” Her mom, a colossal hiking pack slung over one shoulder, filled the doorway. Behind her, Meridian’s dad sat on the bed, his forehead creased like the unmade sheets.

“I was… walking down the hall,” Meridian said. She forced herself to frown. According to her parents, Meridian grinned when she lied.

“Walking? Or perched on your duffle bag listening to a private discussion?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Christopher said and slid past Lupine to pull Meridian to her feet. “I’ll miss you. Are you excited?”

“What were you talking about? I heard my name,” Meridian said. “More than once.”

“Your mother and I are allowed to have private con- versations. Even about you.”

“It was about nothing, anyway,” Lupine grumbled and headed for the front door. “Meridian, come help me pack the car.”

An hour later, Meridian’s dad embraced her. Then she wiggled out of his arms, jumped into the passen- ger seat, and shoved the buckle of her seatbelt into its anchor.

Christopher didn’t embrace Lupine. He didn’t kiss her. He didn’t warn her to watch for bears. Or monsters. He simply said, “Bye, Lupine.”

Meridian did very much want to understand her parents’ earlier conversation and their pitiful farewell. But even more, she yearned to be on the road, fleeing her monster-less suburban life, hurtling toward another perfect summer at Wide Eye Lake.