The Paradise Trap / Catherine Jinks / 344 pages

Marcus, a typical 11 year old boy, loves playing video games.  In fact, he really doesn't want to go on vacation with his single mom, Holly, who plans to relive her youth by camping in a shabby old smelly airstream by the ocean in the Diamond Beach Trailer Park.  Their vacation quickly turns into a nightmare when Marcus and his mom meet up with Holly's old friend Coco and her quirky inventor husband Sterling and her two step children Newt (for Newton) and Edison.  The beach is crowded with masses of trailers parked everywhere.  (The author's description of the fancier trailers with gyms, spas, multi-stories, and all the comforts of home is pointed.) After discovering a mysterious cellar under their trailer, the kids and adults are trapped in their dream vacations & nightmares by an evil siren who speaks in rhyme and eats children.  Lots of action, chills and thrills keep the story going until the satisfying resolution.  Recommended for grades 5-7.