Launching her exciting Greek mythology inspired middle-grade series, Bowman focuses on unconventional heroes whose innate bravery slowly surfaces during a watery adventure. Ten-year-old Kai, the son of a Pineapple Cove fisherman, takes the bucolic seaside for granted. Digging clams in the buttery yellow sand is “bor-ing,” and he wonders why everyone else is having more fun. Then Kai spies Delphi, the oddball outcast who “washed up onshore when she was little,” playing with her only friend Sammy, a raucous sea lion. Delphi is deathly afraid of the water, so when they hear a distress call from the ocean, both are eager to help, but it’s Kai who swims out to free a young dolphin from a net. In return for his good deed, Kai receives a gold trident necklace, which is key to unlocking the first secret realm in The Legend of Pineapple Cove series.

For all the book’s invention and adventure, its heart is in friendship, as Bowman makes cooperation the protagonists’ superpower: Delphi tempers Kai’s impetuousness with well-reasoned preparation; and he urges her to take action and put her knowledge to good use. Their reluctant, life-changing alliance encourages young readers to both recognize strengths (in themselves and others) and to build upon them.

Nathan Monção employs lightness and heft in his winsome illustrations. Pineapple Cove’s populace is densely muscular, as rounded and sturdy as the stones of their town’s buildings, while other images are airy and whimsical, like the massive wooden ship precariously perched on a small rock in the middle of a tiny island. Establishing Kai and Delphi as an interdependent team sets them up for future quests (there are three more books in the series), and it’s also a powerful force in helping Delphi confront her fears. The goal of these young adventurers may be exploring the deep mysteries of Pineapple Cove, but uncovering their own possibilities is their greatest reward.

Takeaway: Greek myth meets rollicking sea adventures in a series that encourages courage and cooperation.

Great for fans of: Lucy Coats’s Beast Keeper, Maz Evans’s Who Let the Gods Out, and Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams’s Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-