Little Red Reads

Strong Like the Sea by Wendy S. Swore

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Strong Like the Sea
by Wendy S. Swore

Hardcover, 304 pages
Published May 25th 2021

by Shadow Mountain
ISBN1629729027

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Featuring a secret ocean code with a hidden message for YOU to decipher!

Even though twelve-year-old Alexis was born in Hawaii, she won’t surf or swim with her friends—not since the ocean and its hidden creatures swept her out to sea. Instead, she grabs her best detective hat and decodes her mom’s latest challenge

Alex’s mom works in counterintelligence and leaves codes, ciphers, and puzzles behind for Alex to solve, always with a “treasure” at the end. It’s a brilliant game between them, and Alex loves figuring out her mom’s puzzles—especially the tricky ones—but when an emergency at sea puts her mom in possible danger, solving the next one suddenly feels far more urgent.

Friends help as Alex races to decipher each clue before time runs out, but when the trail leads to grumpy old Uncle, his enormous dog Sarge, and a sea turtle unlike any other, the challenge changes into something bigger than any before. With storms on the horizon and lives on the line, Alex must face her fears to solve Mom’s challenge and save those she loves. With her ohana to help, she must be strong like the sea.

About the Author

Wendy S Swore farms on the Sho-Ban reservation where her corn maze and pumpkin patch is home to her five kids, two dogs, two geese, seven peacocks, eleven ducks, nineteen cats, and two hundred thirty seven chickens. She farms in the summers, writes in the winters, and would rather chew her leg off than eat something spicy.

Rep’d by Stacey Glick, Member SCBWI, Her debut novel, A Monster Like Me, comes out in March 2019.

Giveaway

Wendy is doing a big giveaway on her Instagram this week!  https://www.instagram.com/p/CPQ9uPkhbfA/?utm_medium=copy_link

Willa and the Whale by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown

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I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Willa and the Whale by Chad Morris and Shelly BrownWilla and the Whale on March 3, 2020
Pages: 256
Format: ARC
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Can a whale talk to a human? Willa thinks so . .

After losing her mom, Willa is grieving and having a hard time living with her dad and his new family on an island off the coast of Washington State. Her dad tries to cheer her up by taking her whale watching, something Willa's mom used to do.
While all the passengers are on one side of the boat, Willa encounters a humpback whale on the opposite side. Willa feels so lonely that she starts to talk to the whale and the whale talks back!

The whale, named Meg, quickly becomes a trusted friend and confidante Willa can speak to whenever she's by the ocean.

Meg offers sound advice Willa needs about dealing with a nemesis at school and trying to figure out why her friend Marc is keeping secrets about his family life.
Before the story ends, it will take all of Willa's courage and connections to tackle a problem that's as big as a blue whale!

About the Author

Chad Morris grew up wanting to become a professional basketball player or a rock star. Neither of those plans quite panned out, so he wrote and performed sketch comedy while going to college. Now he&;s a teacher and a writer.

Shelly Brown loves to write books for children. In her spare time, she enjoys the theater and traveling. In addition to her five children, she has three chickens and sixty-four Pez dispensers.

The Wish and the Peacock by Wendy S. Swore

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I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Wish and the Peacock by Wendy S. SworeThe Wish and the Peacock on February 4, 2020
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
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Be Strong and Wish Big

Paige's favorite family tradition on the farm is the annual bonfire where everyone tosses in a stone and makes a wish. This time, Paige's specific wish is one she's not sure can come ture: Don't let Mom and Grandpa sell the farm.

When Paige's younger brother finds a wounded peacock in the barn, Paige is sure it's a sign that if she can keep the bird safe, she'll keep the farm safe too. Peacocks, after all, are known to be fierce protectors of territory and family.

With determination and hard work, Paige tries to prove she can save the farm on her own, but when a real estate agent stakes a "For Sale" sign at the end of the driveway and threatens everything Paige loves, she calls on her younger brother and her best friends, Mateo and Kimana, to help battle this new menace. They may not have street smarts, but they have plenty of farm smarts, and some city lady who's scared of spiders should be easy enough to drive away.

But even as the peacock gets healthier, the strain of holding all the pieces of Paige's world together gets harder. Faced with a choice between home and family, she risks everything to make her wish come true, including the one thing that scares her the most: letting the farm go.

Wendy S. Swore farms on the Sho-Ban reservation with a corn maze and pumpkin patch that is home to her five kids, two dogs, seven peacocks, eleven ducks, nineteen cats, and two hundred thirty seven chickens. She farms in the summers & writes in the winters.
Kids can write Wendy via the contact form at www.wendyswore.com or via social media:
@WendySwore on Twitter
@WendySwore on Instagram
@AuthorWendySwore on Facebook

Rep’d by Stacey Glick, Member SCBWI, Author of A Monster Like Me (March 2019) & The Wish And The Peacock (February 2020)