The Boggart and the Monster by Susan Cooper

Jessup and Emily are excited to revisit the Scottish castle once owned by their grandfather. They especially miss the boggart living there. In this book, a boggart is a mischievous, shape-shifting creature. The new owner of the castle agrees to take the kids to visit the Loch Ness. The boggart tags along and discovers his cousin has been sleeping at the bottom of the loch for hundreds of years. However, his cousin is very sad and has forgotten how to change from the dinosaur shape that many people have seen. The kids want to help, but things get complicated when a snoopy reporter shows up.

I didn't realize until I finished the book, that this book is the second one in a series. I don't think you need to read The Boggart first; I was able to enjoy this book without it. The conflict is pretty unusual. How many times have you read about a monster trying to help his cousin that wasn't in a picture book? It didn't read like a cutesy story, but it wasn't overly serious either. The book was an easy read.