Bestselling author/illustrator ND Stevenson (Nimona) creates his first middle-grade fantasy with Scarlet Morning, a suspenseful and exceptionally magical illustrated novel that follows two orphans determined to change--and save--a world destroyed by adults.
Once, the world wasn't broken: "the sky was blue, and the spray of the sea wouldn't burn your flesh." At that time, the people of Dickerson's Sea were ruled by a beloved Queen. But the "blackhearted" Scarlet Morning killed the queen and brought a dreadful storm that destroyed the sea, the birds, and memory itself. Orphans Viola and Wilmur never knew this world; they only know life with Hestur, their caretaker, on the island of Caveat in Dickerson's Sea. After Hestur vanishes, the dangerous and strange Captain Cadence Chase appears. In exchange for Violet and Wilmur's single treasure--the Book, full of secrets and puzzles--Chase offers them safe passage on her pirate ship. It is there that Viola and Wilmur begin to understand how many secrets have been kept by the captain, by their long-lost caretaker, and by the other adults crossing Dickerson's Sea.
Stevenson delivers a story full of twists and original genre-blending interpretations of magic in Scarlet Morning. Laced with horror and humor, the story perfectly balances the whiplash of a traditional high fantasy pirate adventure set in a terrifying world reshaped by adults. More than 100 black-and-white illustrations in Stevenson's signature style set tone and add nuance to the unfolding mysteries. Give Scarlet Morning to fans of Katherine Rundell and Ashley Mackenzie's Impossible Creatures or Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events; even knowing the dangers, they will surely want to set sail on Dickerson's Sea at once. --Nicole Brinkley, bookseller and writer