Excerpt provided by Penguin Young Readers Group.

Flight 29 Down: Static available March 2, 2006, wherever books are sold.

Chapter 1

"Dude!"

Jackson blinked, looked around.

Mac and cheese. Mac and cheese. Was he going crazy? The smell was still there. Which was impossible.

The scene looked like a brochure from a travel agency. Lazy turquoise surf lapping at the white sand, endless blue ocean, and steamy breezes tickling the palm trees. Exotic birds hooted in the jungle. And hanging over it all—the heavy scent of salt and flowers that smelled like cheap aftershave. But somewhere beneath it was another smell. Macaroni and cheese? Was that possible?

"Dude!" It was that irritating little guy, Eric, his straw hat tipped back on his head, leaning over Jackson. "Dude, I think you were having a bad dream."

Jackson stood up, brushed the sand off his pants. He was soaked with sweat, and he still felt panicky from the dream.

Looking around at all this island paradise scenery, it was easy to forget just how desperate their situation was.

"You were like all ‘RRRRRRRrrrrrrr! Uhhnnhhh!’ " Eric said, screwing up his face and making this weird, grating noise. "And you were pulling on your own leg. RRRRRrrrrrr! Uhhhhnnnhh! RRRRRrrrr! You were cracking me up! It was pretty doofy looking."

Jackson gave Eric his coldest gaze.

Eric backed up nervously. "I don’t mean like doofy in a bad way. I just mean . . ." He cleared his throat nervously. "Yeah. So. Okay, I’ll just be kinda . . ." He started walking away. ". . . moving along."

Macaroni and cheese. Jackson sniffed the air. Swear to God, he could smell it. Behind all the salt air and the exotic aftershave-smelling plants, there it was. Mac and cheese. Was he still dreaming? Jackson had never been the biggest fan of mac and cheese. But right now he’d about kill for it.

Too bad they couldn’t eat the flowers or the sand, because they had plenty of both. This South Seas paradise looked terrific, but there was just one thing missing . . .

Food.