The Island of Beyond captures the same spirit as Atkinson's first book, I, Emma Freke, but this time from a boy's perspective.

Awkward, unsocial eleven-year-old Martin is being packed off to spend the summer with his weird great-aunt Lenore, who lives on a tiny island in rural Maine called Beyond. Martin knows it's going to be a terrible summer. But nothing about Beyond is what Martin expects. Not Aunt Lenore, not mysterious Uncle Ned - and certainly not the strange local boy who unexpectedly befriends Martin. Samuel is everything Martin isn't. He can paddle a canoe, scale trees and survive on his own in the wilderness. But he also has secrets, like everyone else on Beyond. Can Martin trust him? And can he learn to trust himself?