The story begins one hot June day with a boy in a skiff, equipped with a map of Jackson County, Miss., a fishing rod, a flotation vest and "every possible safety item" his chief of police father could think to give him. The only thing he didn't have? "[P]ermission to leave Bluff Creek."
Thirteen-year-old Sam Ford is trying to find the remote, uninhabited swamp called the Pascagoula River Delta--and the dead body the search-and-rescue teams couldn't locate after five days. If he discovers the body, he'll prove he can be brave like his dad, and not just the scared "new kid" who got "beat senseless" by bullies at school. On Sam's vividly described journey through the swamp, he stumbles across a filthy, mosquito-bitten, remarkably cheerful boy close to his age named Davey, fixing up an abandoned fishing camp, waiting for his family to show up. Sam heads back home to sneak supplies to Davey. He starts to think of this ramshackle camp as a dream come true... had he found that purest of pure places--a hideout--to be his best self? He imagines an adult-free life of excitement and adventure, catfish and swimming. In Davey's eyes, Sam could be a competent hero, not a bullied loser... maybe even cool.
Sam's blissful visions evaporate when Davey's menacing, thieving stepbrother, Slade, shows up with his friends in a stolen boat. Suddenly, he and Davey are in real danger and the story turns to serious, suspenseful action. With Hideout, Watt Key (Alabama Moon) creates a wonderfully atmospheric, edge-of-seat middle-grade adventure. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness