Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, by Wendy Mass, 2006

Jeremy Fink gets a box in the mail from his father's lawyer, containing a wooden box with four separate locks, and an engraving saying that it contains "The Meaning of Life." Jeremy and his best friend Lizzy spend a memorable summer hunting down the keys and sniffing out ideas from the colorful characters they meet about what the meaing of life could be. Middle grade realism, intricate, with many bright moments of humor and charm; Jeremy does not feel like a boy, though, and the outcome feels contrived.