Synopsis:

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Maddie Tyler is a young girl who has just experienced the loss of her twin sister, Makenna. While her parents are packing up their lives and transplanting them to Mellow Creek, Maddie will be spending the summer with her Grandma Minnie who lives in the same town. Maddie finds it hard to deal with losing her sister and being abandoned by her parents for the summer and must come to terms with these feelings. Throughout the story, Maddie struggles with her grief and often imagines Makenna when she is alone, haunted by her memories.

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As the summer unfolds, Maddie reconnects with a childhood friend, Tristen Grant, who has grown into her latest crush. The pair of them start to gravitate toward each other, spending as much time together as possible, until Maddie’s father finds out. There is a rivalry between their families, spanning back to their father’s high school football days. Mr. Tyler embarrasses Maddie by dragging her away from a summer bonfire and causing a scene. While doing so, he forbids Maddie from spending any time with Tristen. Maddie continues to sneak out to see Tristen while she is still staying with her grandmother.

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Before school starts, Maddie and her family have already moved into their new house together. Her father takes on a coaching job for the high school football team while also working as an insurance agent. Meanwhile, her mother works at a flower shop in town. Now that she is no longer at Grandma Minnie’s seeing Tristen secretly becomes a little trickier.

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Maddie's troubles continue as she is ostracized by her peers from the first day of school. However, she slowly befriends three outcasts: Jax, Lydia, and Thomas. In spending time with them, she has also found the perfect cover for seeing Tristen.

 

Earlier in the story, Maddie shares a fond story that her grandma shared with the twins when they were younger,  the legend of a treasure hidden in nearby caverns, something that she and Makenna had always dreamed of finding together. In the latter part of the story, Maddie and Tristen sneak off to search for the treasure but end up getting lost inside. After calling all her friends, they realize that Tristen and Maddie are in the cave together. Their parents must work together to rescue them, with Maddie getting trapped on the opposite side of a cave-in.

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Maddie is in bad shape after the cave in, fading in and out of consciousness. It will take pure will power to get herself out of this predicament. In this moment of desperation, Maddie sees her sister's spirit and wants to join her. However, Makenna's spirit tells her that she needs to live and that they will see each other again someday. Maddie decides to live and gains enough energy to help dig herself out. She and Tristen are eventually reunited with the help of their fathers. In the end, the fathers will put all their past issues behind and let their children have a future together.

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Overall, this story is a poignant exploration of grief, loss, and the power of love and family to overcome even the most challenging situations.