Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage is another wonderful read I found on someone's Goodreads list. Loved it from beginning to end! Eleven-year old Miss Moses LoBeau lives with the Colonel and Miss Lana in Tupelo Landing, North Caroline. Discovered as a baby by the Colonel after a hurricane washed her ashore, Miss Moses has searched for her mother via the message in a bottle for years. There's a murder in her small town and all of a sudden, the law from the big city arrives. None other than the Colonel appears to be a suspect, and Miss Moses and her best buddy, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III, set out to discover the truth. Through all sorts of adventures and mishaps, not only is the criminal revealed, but so are some mysteries from the past. In the end, Miss Moses (and the reader) come to appreciate the meaning of family.