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If you have kids in your life, they can probably tell you exactly how many days of school are left this year. If you’re looking for an adventure story the whole family might enjoy reading together when summer hits, Allie Cesmat of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Ariz., recommends the middle grade fantasy novel “Scarlet Morning,” by ND Stevenson. 

Stevenson is best known as the author of the web series-turned-graphic novel “Nimona,” which is also available as an animated feature on Netflix. “Scarlet Morning” is a prose novel, but it also includes letters, secret codes, and full-page illustrations that will appeal to reluctant readers. 

“Scarlet Morning” is a hero’s journey in which two siblings living without their parents on a dream-like island are drawn into a pirate adventure. Cesmat says, she’s ready to shelve it next to the fantasy classics: 

“In the middle of the night, their door is knocked down. This gruff pirate walks in and says, ‘I'm taking you, you're coming with me. We're going on an adventure.’ And what ensues is a pirate's journey across not a salty sea, but an actual salt sea. The seas are made of salt, and this land is made of salt.  

“It’s an adventure in the way ‘The Hobbit’ is. It draws you in, and it takes you on this journey, not just as an adventure, but also internally. For being a middle-grade novel, I think that it can stand up with the classic fantasy books that you have on your shelves. Families can sit down and read this, and something will be taken for every age level. It is a story of family. It is a story of heart. It is finding out who you are, who you want to be, and also not letting any of the past hold you back.” 

ND Stevenson has said there will be a sequel, which takes place in a new setting. 

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Emily Bright

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Allie Cesmat of Changing Hands Bookshop in Tempe, Arizona recommends the middle grade fantasy novel “Scarlet Morning,” by ND Stevenson — an adventure story perfect for summer reading. 

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Scarlet Morning’ by ND Stevenson

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