Excerpt from Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Naoki rubbed her hands together. "I knew this would be good."

"But today we're just focusing on looking into a box," I clarified.

"Cool," Naoki said, waving her hands excitedly. "Sorry to interrupt. Please continue."

"Is this from one of your weird conspiracy theory websites?" Thomas asked, striding to the front of the room and grabbing the cardboard box.

"Yes, it is," I said, snatching it back. "Any other questions?"

The stars braided into Naoki's long black-and-white hair twinkled in the sun. "Can I go first?"

"Sure," I said. "Did you bring a mystery item?"

Naoki bobbed her head and twirled toward the front of the room, a lumpy grocery bag in hand. Thomas and I sat down on the floor. Shielding our view with her massive white smock, Naoki tucked her object into the box and tapped the lid closed.

"Okay!" She spun around. "How long does it take to remote view?"

"Give us ninety seconds," I said. I adjusted my overalls, tossed my hair up into a ponytail, and tucked my boots under my knees.

Shifting into a kind of side sit, Thomas flicked a giant dust bunny off the palm of his hand. "And we do this how?" he asked.

"You clear your mind," I said, resting the backs of my hands on my thighs in lotus pose. "We have to open ourselves to our potential."

Thomas ran his hand, flat, in front of his face. "Done!"

"Aaaaand"—Naoki turned and checked the clock—"go."

Remote viewing had been on my list for several weeks as a possible Mystery Club meeting topic. Generally speaking, at every meeting, each member takes a turn presenting a subject they're into. Sometimes we bring in objects or books. Thomas usually shows movies on his laptop, because that's more his thing.

My last presentation was on ESP, during which every two minutes Thomas yelled out, "Oh! I knew that!

Two weeks ago, Thomas talked about what he deems the great mystery of why Capricorns are really good boyfriends and Aries are not.

At the last meeting, Naoki gave a presentation on lucid dreaming.

When Naoki dreams, she can shape herself and the world around her. She can turn herself into a penguin and swim in the ocean. She can turn herself into a gumdrop or a boot. Whatever she wants. I've tried this, too, but mostly it just makes me wake up. Thomas says most of his dreams are sexy dreams.

This summer, Naoki had a dream she was a crane, and so, in the real, nondreaming world, she bleached her hair white and added black tips, like wings.

The site I found on remote viewing didn't exactly say how to do it. It just said, "Clear your mind."

Thirty seconds into sitting down, I was getting pretty much nowhere.

Wait, my brain whispered. I think I see a circle.

"Time!" Naoki cried.

I opened my eyes and the classroom swam into focus.

Naoki danced over to the box. "So this is like ESP, then?"

"Sort of," I said, pulling myself up from the floor with the grace of what Momma Jo has described as a swan with one leg. "Back in the day, it was used for, uh, psychedelic warfare. Soldiers used it to see into bunkers and stuff."

Thomas stood and dusted off his pants. "For what war specifically?"

"The sixties…" I said, trying to sound authoritative.

"Ah. Hmmm. Not a lot of wars being won around then," said Thomas, clearly amused. Thomas is the official Mystery Club skeptic, despite also being the person who wants to talk about Capricorns and superheroes the most.

Naoki clapped. "Okay, so Thomas is first. What's in the box?"

"A hair dryer," Thomas announced, throwing his hands up in the air like a marathoner crossing the finish line.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really. A hair dryer. You saw a hair dryer."

"Yes," Thomas said, dropping his arms and winking at Naoki.

"Interesting." Naoki nodded.

Excerpted from Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki. Copyright © 2016 by Mariko Tamaki. Excerpted by permission of Roaring Brook Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.