It's gone! Oliver's boring blue beach bag is gone. Inside are his clothes, shoes, and a special seashell. All he has left is his beach ball. This is a perfect case for Nate the Great and his trusty dog Sludge. But they don't find many clues in the sand and surf. What trail should they follow next? Follow the leader to find out!

MARJORIE WEINMAN SHARMAT has written more than 130 books for children and young adults, as well as movie and TV novelizations. Her books have been translated into twenty-four languages. The award-winning Nate the Great series, hailed in Booklist as “groundbreaking,” has resulted in Nate’s real-world appearances in many New York Times crossword puzzles, sporting a milk mustache in magazines and posters, residing on more than 28 million boxes of Cheerios, and touring the country in musical theater. Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and her husband, Mitchell Sharmat, have also coauthored many books, including titles in both the Nate the Great and the Olivia Sharp series.

MARC SIMONT won the Caldecott Medal for his artwork in A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Uldry, as well as a Caldecott Honor for his own book, The Stray Dog. He illustrated the first twenty books in the Nate the Great series.