Recommended Grades 5 & up

There are zero reasons for Theo Ripley to look forward to his family vacation. Not only are he, sister Laura, and nature-obsessed Dad going to Big Bend, the least popular National Park, but once there the family will be camping. And Theo is an indoor animal. It doesn't help that this will be the first vacation they're taking since Mom passed away.

Once there, the family contends with 110 degree days, wild bears and an annoying amateur ornithologist and his awful teenage vlogger son. Then Theo's dad hits him with a whopper of a surprise; the whole trip is just a trick to introduce him to his secret new girlfriend.

Theo tries to squash does the pain in his chest. But when it becomes clear that this is an auditioning-to-be-his-stepmom girlfriend, Theo must find a way to face his grief and talk to his dad before his family is forever changed.