Strong Like the Sea

"Alexis, a 12-year-old native Hawaiian, is terrified of the ocean and the creatures that live there because of an encounter she had early in her life with a moray eel. Her mother, a civilian contractor for the Navy, likes to give Alexis elaborate puzzles to solve when she's away on assignments. One puzzle gets her working for her grumpy neighbor, who everyone calls Uncle Tanaka, helping him gather marine samples. She has to use all her problem-solving abilities and overcome her fear of the ocean when Uncle Tanaka is suddenly in distress"--