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Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea

A weeklong summer vacation for Alix and her older sister, Jools, is a series of small moments that combine to create an experience far different than their day-to-day life back home, from swimming in the ocean to cycling to a nature preserve to getting involved in a raptor rehabilitation program to making a new friend in African American Nessa, whose grandmother owns, and lives upstairs from, the apartment the girls’ family is renting. A quietly observant book that beautifully captures sibling and family dynamics, how cartwheels can lead to instant friendship, and how new experiences can leave such a lasting impression, is told primarily from Alix’s point of view, with Nessa’s perspective woven in throughout. For Nessa, some of the things unusual to Alix and Jools, from the shocking size of June bugs to building sandcastles by the sea—only to have them washed away by the tide—aren’t unusual at all. Occasional black-and- white illustrations add to the appeal of this understated story full of warmth and charm. ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Illustrated by Lynne Rae Perkins

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 7-10
Age Range: PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7) Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format: Novel
Subjects: Families Friendship Siblings Vacations
Diversity subject: Black/African

Publishers: Greenwillow, HarperCollins
Publish Year: 2018
Pages: 232
ISBN: 9780062499660

CCBC Location: Fiction, Perkins

Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea