Author(s): Victoria Carless

Middle Readers

Lani Scrub has a plan: study hard and become a double PhD like her idol, celebrity scientist Kit Galway, who wrote The Meaning of the Universe, a handy reference book for well, everything.

Lani's life plan is tracking well until her mum decides on a tree change. And Lani is somehow coerced to leave their two-storey house in the city for a dank cabin in an alternative lifestyle community called Passing Waters. The signs were all there. Lani should have known things were up when they got backyard chickens.

Lani is not a happy camper at Passing Waters and fails every test the community throws her way - Green STEM studies, candle making and even interpretive dancing. Despite coaching from nine-year-old-nature -loving Lentil and a vegan chef/astronomer named Meadow. Turns out failing is hard, and what's worse is Lani apparently has a murky aura.

But when the community's future is threatened, can Lani put aside her judgement of the locals and apply what she has learnt from her surprising new friendships? Will Lani Scrub pitch in to save the day?