Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

The Chambered Nautilus by Laura Segal Stegman is a fun middle-school adventure that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. For the past three years, best friends Darby, Justin, and Naz have reconnected each summer at Camp Inch where they discovered some amazing supernatural happenings at the L.U.C.K. Carnival Show attached to the summer camp. During the previous two summers, the friends experienced true magic at the hands of the ghost of the late carnival owner Mr. Usher. Last summer it seemed the magic was finished and Mr. Usher’s ghost would fade away and spend eternity with his beloved wife. This year, thirteen-year-old Darby is looking forward to a fun summer with her new best friend and classmate Mei-Ling. The last thing she wants is for the excitement and supernatural happenings of the past years to interfere with her friendship with Mei-Ling. All plans are thrown out the window when Darby receives a ghostly message on her walkie-talkie, seeking help from the trio. Darby, Justin, and Naz owe so much to their friend Mr. Usher and they must help him, but can they do so and keep it secret from Mei-Ling and the camp supervisors?

The Chambered Nautilus will greatly appeal to its target audience of young teens. Author Laura Segal Stegman has created a fantastic trio that perfectly portrays many of the issues young teenagers face. Darby's lack of confidence had been severely limited by her shyness and her stutter. With the help of Mr. Usher, she realized that she did have something valuable to say in most situations without becoming a quivering mess. Naz also had used Mr. Usher’s magic in a past season to solve some family issues with his father having to stay in their home country of Morocco while his mother was touring the U.S. with a philharmonic orchestra. I have read the first book in this trilogy but not the second but it is not necessary to enjoy this third and final episode. The author does a superb job of weaving important past happenings into the narrative to ensure readers are never lost or confused. The author’s style embodies a simple sentence structure and age-appropriate language for the target market. I particularly liked the presentation of different cultures, ages, and sexes as being no barrier to understanding and friendship. Ultimately the big lesson from these stories is that maturity, confidence, and success develop over time and require nothing more than a belief in oneself, something that resonates closely with me. This has been a wonderful series of adventures with a subtle lesson behind them and I highly recommend this book.