The First Summer of Callie McGee
A middle-grade mystery about growing up, figuring things out, and solving the puzzle of who you are.
Shortlisted for the 2024 Davitt Award
Longlisted for The Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award 2024
Out now through Scholastic Australia. Buy here
The first summer of Callie McGee
In her first contemporary middle-grade novel, bestselling author A. L. Tait delivers a mystery about growing up, figuring things out and solving the puzzle of who you are.
“The water in a rip current is always calmer than the waves on either side. Once you’re in it, you’re best to just go with the flow.”
It’s the last summer before Callie starts high school and she’s been dragged along to yet another ‘family friends’ holiday.
Determined to change her nerdy reputation, Callie sets out to make waves but nothing is quite as she expects. Her usual ally, Sasha, has outgrown Callie; her nemesis, Mitch, has brought his cousin Owen along; and the boring south coast town of Sawyer’s Point has been rocked by a series of burglaries.
Callie, Owen and Mitch decide to investigate the robberies, bringing them face to face with a local gang … and a possible ghost.
But when Sasha goes missing, Callie must draw on all her smarts to find her friend, and discovers that being Callie McGee has its benefits.
The first summer of Callie McFee
In her first contemporary middle-grade novel, bestselling author A. L. Tait delivers a mystery about growing up, figuring things out and solving the puzzle of who you are.
Out on 1 August 2023 through Scholastic Australia.
“The water in a rip current is always calmer than the waves on either side. Once you’re in it, you’re best to just go with the flow.”
It’s the last summer before Callie starts high school and she’s been dragged along to yet another ‘family friends’ holiday.
Determined to change her nerdy reputation, Callie sets out to make waves but nothing is quite as she expects. Her usual ally, Sasha, has outgrown Callie; her nemesis, Mitch, has brought his cousin Owen along; and the boring south coast town of Sawyer’s Point has been rocked by a series of burglaries.
Callie, Owen and Mitch decide to investigate the robberies, bringing them face to face with a local gang … and a possible ghost.
But when Sasha goes missing, Callie must draw on all her smarts to find her friend, and discovers that being Callie McGee has its benefits.
What reviewers are saying about
THE FIRST SUMMER OF CALLIE McGEE
“A L Tait makes an impressive departure from her usual historical/fantasy writing, with this thoroughly engaging contemporary middle-grade novel …
“The mystery of the burglaries will fully engage readers, and they will enjoy putting the clues together, while simultaneously making connections with their own burgeoning personalities. There will also be many who recognise the lame dad jokes, the annoying friends (almost like siblings) and the often dreary aspects of such group holidays – same same every year – and who will fully empathise with Callie, as she struggles out of her childhood cocoon.
“Highly recommended for readers from around 11 years upwards.”
“Writing a novel for children that keeps its heart light and takes its reader seriously is so difficult, and that’s what I admire about this book.
“Cleverly restrained while addressing what it’s like to have an overly anxious parent, the story generously navigates Callie’s disquiet about forming an identity that feels like a good fit.
“It has great clarity on the relationships we have with our parents, ourselves, and those who’ve known us for such a long time that they find any changes in us hard to process.
“This book doesn’t over-reach and there is great comfort to be found here, as well as a classic small town mystery to solve.
“I’m adding it to a collection that in my head I’m calling The Girls of Summer…”
“I love Allison’s fantasy work and was keen to see what she did with a contemporary setting, and she has performed brilliantly in this novel.
“I loved it, it felt comfortable, like I was having a chat with a friend and revisiting something we had both experienced. It is a novel that I think many readers will enjoy and connect with, and one that I hope to read again.
“It is brilliantly written and relatable in many ways.”
“This novel for younger readers explores the idea that we understand our lives in part by using stories from books, particularly in times of crisis and change. It shows that social convention can be not just constraining but fatal, even for adults.”
“This is a brilliantly written middle grade novel about resilience, growing up, and navigating the sometimes confusing and complicated changes along the way to becoming who you want to be.”
“I want to buy a copy of this book for all of my Year 6 students about to head off to High School. It’s a mystery that so beautifully captures that awkward beauty of the last summer before beginning high school.”
“This is an easy-to-read holiday story with themes of growing up, taking a risk to help others, developing friendships and family dynamics that will appeal to middle grade readers in upper primary and lower secondary.”
“AL Tait knows how to create authentic characters and instantly recognisable settings- and her words fly.”
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