The Floating City Secret

Three siblings. One globe-traveling dad. And a hidden truth beneath one of the world’s strangest wonders.

When journalist Gabe Santos takes his eight-year-old triplets to Xochimilco, Mexico City, he’s chasing a story about the last great floating gardens and a chinampa-growing family whose harvest records seem impossible.

Officially, it’s a feature about history, farming, and one of the most astonishing places in the world.

But Tala, Naya, and Rafi discover there’s another story moving under the tourist boats.

A hidden canal route. A child messenger erased from memory. A flute melody only Rafi can hear. And a clue in their missing mother’s handwriting that should not exist.

As Gabe investigates the public mystery, the triplets begin uncovering the Second Record: the buried truth beneath the version everyone knows.

With the help of Lupita—funny, fearless, and unimpressed by tourists—they follow symbols, stories, and whispers through the old lake city to find out what survived when one city was built over another.

The Floating City Secret is the first book in Stranger Truths, a globe-trotting chapter-book mystery series full of hidden histories, sibling teamwork, real-world wonder, and just enough strangeness to open a door.

Perfect for readers who love adventure mysteries, hidden history, sibling teamwork, and real places with strange secrets.