My Brother's Hero — Adrian Fogelin

An unexpected turn of events pushes Ben Floyd out of his normal small neighborhood routine, and into an unexpected appreciation for his old life.
Ben Floyd has a lot on his mind. In only eighteen months he will be old enough to get a learner's permit to drive, but that seems like a lifetime away. Ben enjoys the close-knit group of friends in his small neighborhood, but lately he has been longing for a taste of adventure. Keeping an eye on his younger brother Cody is getting to be a big responsibility. And he is confused by complicated feelings he has for his lifelong friend, Cass.
When the Floyd family ends up in the Florida Keys over Christmas vacation Ben gains a welcome opportunity to escape his routines. He meets Mica, an independent, strong-willed girl who lives a nomadic life aboard a boat with her marine biologist father. Together Ben, Cody, and Mica explore the interior canals and coastal waterways, but Ben soon realizes that adventure sometimes brings danger, and that at the center of Mica's seemingly charmed life lies a mysterious loneliness.
Young readers will relate to Ben's conflicting feelings and growing restlessness as they experience this realistic, thoughtful, and sometimes humorous portrait of adolescence by award-winning author Adrian Fogelin.