Vernon’s brother had told him about the witch, but he’s surprised by how much the witch knows about him. Reluctant to talk about his own life, he settles in instead to hear “the scariest story ever told.” In it, a sixth grade Lipan Apache boy named Sean leaves Texas to stay with his cousin, Zeke, in Massachusetts after his mother’s cancer treatment led to bankruptcy. One day, Sean and Zeke find a missing cat and her kittens in an abandoned cliffside house. A girl named Jenny appears, warning of danger—just before the ground collapses, plunging the house to the shoreline below. Trapped by rising tides on an upper floor, the kids encounter a lurking monster. The ocean creature, angry over humans’ destructive, wasteful ways, offers them a deal: If they can guess one of its names, it will return them safely to land, and Sean is reminded of the monster in the Rio Grande from one of his mother’s stories. The cousins’ heritage is integral to this stand-alone series entry that weaves environmental themes into a layered, high-stakes survival story. The characters are caringly developed, adding emotional depth, and genuine tension and scares propel the story.