It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit

Twelve-year-old Eddie Gordon Holloway's genius scheme to avoid doing laundry—by wearing every piece of clothing he owns—backfires spectacularly when he's grounded on the day of his town's beloved Beach Bash and left home alone in nothing but glow-in-the-dark pineapple swim trunks. When the power goes out mid-laundry cycle and his family never returns from the beach, Eddie teams up with four other neighborhood kids to figure out whether they've been left behind in an actual apocalypse. The story features a Black protagonist and blended-family dynamics (including a stepdad Eddie nicknames 'Wanna-Be Dad'), with themes of sibling rivalry, friendship, resourcefulness, and facing fear with humor. Told through Eddie's hilarious, fourth-wall-breaking narration, the book blends laugh-out-loud comedy with a surprisingly tender look at family and self-reliance.