Shadow Island Book Review

Shadow Island: Sueño Bay Adventures 1 

By Mike Deas and Nancy Deas
Published by Orca Book Publishers, 2019

Review

Now that T is reading more independently, we are exploring graphic novels. We've read several; they've been great for shared reading and are becoming a solid bridge for us between picture books and early chapter books (short chapter books that still have pictures on some pages). With a wide range of topics out there, I'm homing in on biographies, renditions of traditional literature, and fiction with contemporary themes like environmentalism or social justice. In my searching, I found the second Sueño Bay Adventures book, which will be out in April. Orca graciously provided a review copy of the first to set the stage in the meantime. 

Shadow Island is the story of four children who attempt to rescue supernatural creatures and return them to their home on a nearby island. Dealing with themes of friendship, parental loss, courage, conservation, and trust, this graphic novel is commanding and fast-moving. Readers are swept up in the adventure where they also observe that first impressions are not always right, exiting one's comfort zone can be a mixed bag, and sometimes, we just need someone to point out the obvious facts that we are ignoring. Shadow Island has a whole lot of relationship lessons present for those who have eyes to see. I'd recommend it to readers who are into the supernatural and adventures or stories of friendship.

We read this the day after it arrived – in two sittings. T was that into it. Afterward, he immediately disappeared with the book into his bedroom. Sometime later, he emerged with a LEGO model of Sueño Bay and the characters. He's reiterated multiple times how much he likes the book, and has paged through it himself several times since we read it over the weekend. And he has already asked me to read it again! He can't wait for Auto [sic] Lagoon.* His favorite characters are the girl, Kay, and the baby moon creature, Conker; we both agree that Conker is adorable. T has also commented on how a twist at the end surprised him, but I don't want to spoil it for you. Sueño Bay Adventures looks like it will be a winning series!

*Otter Lagoon: Sueño Bay Adventures 2