Lucy Hart has fallen for Christopher, a little boy whose parents have died, but she doesn't have the financial resources to adopt him or to even foster him. She sells crafts she makes online, in addition to having a job as a kindergarten teaching assistant. She has been saving for 2 years, but still has only $2,000, not enough to move to a better apartment or to get a used car, both required by the foster agency.
One of the things that Lucy and Christopher do together is to read books by Jack Masterson, a famous author of a children's series, the Clock Island books. He hasn't published a new book for 6 years, but then he announces a contest for those who can solve a riddle. The only people who can solve this riddle are children who actually ran away from home and found Jack Masterson on Clock Island, off the coast of Maine. Lucy is one of the four former children who found Jack and his grumpy illustrator, Hugo Reese, this way.
The four adults qualify, and are invited to Clock Island to compete in a series of games and puzzles, often related to the stories from the author's previous books. The first one to get ten points earns a prize: the only copy of Jack's new book, which the winner can keep or sell to the highest bidder. If Lucy wins, then she can afford to adopt Christopher.
Once I got past Lucy's bleak past and iffy future, and the tragedy of Christopher, as well, the story grabbed me and I loved the way it played out.
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