Otter Lagoon Book Review

Otter Lagoon (Sueño Bay Adventures #2)
By Mike Deas and Nancy Deas
Published by Orca Book Publishers, April 13, 2021

Review
Read it with Mom. Read it to yourself in your tent. Read it with Grandma. Read it to yourself at bedtime. Read it with Dad. Read it to yourself. Ask Mom to read it again. Read it and Shadow Island side by side. If you are T, this is your approach to Otter Lagoon.

Building on Shadow Island, Otter Lagoon follows children Oliver, Kay, Jenna, and Sleeves as they discover a "new" supernatural creature in Sueño Bay. The book concentrates on Jenna's dilemma: she needs money to pay for the surgery of a dog in her care, but she is not prioritizing honesty in obtaining that money. Between stealing lobster traps and conducting shady dealings with animal smugglers, Jenna ignores her conscience. Ultimately, she is confronted with the repercussions of her misdeeds and makes amends. This moral struggled underlies an adventure/mystery. In Shadow Island, readers met the characters; in Otter Lagoon, readers come to know them better as they develop. A young audience will appreciate the authenticity of Deas's writing.

The adventure and moral struggle make a compelling story; the format makes Otter Lagoon an ideal read. Graphic novels' speech bubbles and full page illustrations seem less intimidating to T than a full chapter of text. Although we are sharing early chapter books, he will pick up a graphic novel independently, which he does with this one in particular. He told me I should let you know that, "It is good." Sueño Bay Adventures is definitely a series to follow!

A side note: I had a question about one of the characters and wrote to author Deas. I'd like to note that he kindly responded to me quickly and thoughtfully, and I express my appreciation here.

Note: A review copy was provided by Orca Book Publishers upon request for the purpose of this honest book review. Thank you to Seed to Stem for letting me take my Bookstagram photo in their shop.

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