Seashell Key by Lourdes Heuer (review)

Reviewed by: Seashell Key by Lourdes Heuer Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor Heuer, Lourdes Seashell Key; illus. by Lynnor Bontigao. Amulet/Abrams, 2024 80p Trade ed. ISBN 9781419767418 14. 99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781647009830 13. 49 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. K-3 It's summertime on Seashell Key, and that means the tourists will be rolling in, and the residents of the beach town will be busy with visitors. In this breezy early chapter book, readers follow six young kids in Seashell Key as they spend time seaside. Mateo, son of the owner of the boardwalk's Sky and Sea Shop, decides to set up a business of his own—while he has neither boats nor planes to rent out, he finds a way to apply his crafting talents and make things that can sail and soar. Sasha and Sophia, daughters of a café owner, are sisters with opposite tastes in almost everything, but they come to see the value of each other's perspectives during a picnic on the shore. And siblings Ezra, Eli, and Elana decide to spice up the usual guided tour of their lighthouse home with stories of aliens, night vision goggles, and ancient artifacts. There's a lot to love here, both in the setting and plot, as well as the literacy-building elements woven into the text. The beachside town is appealingly quirky, and the plot is nicely episodic, holding enough tension to maintain interest while keeping the humor light and airy. Repetition, short sentences, and familiar vocabulary all work together to support newly solo readers, but most effective are the direct questions embedded in the text, asking young readers to make predictions and thus build their narrative comprehension. With a diverse cast of loveable characters and cheeky humor, this will be a series to watch, especially for fans of Greene's Princess Posey or DiCamillo's Bink and Gollie. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois