UNICORN ISLAND

Help is needed, but is it safe to reveal the secrets of Unicorn Island?

Twelve-year-old Samantha Wells is excited for a regular life after being settled in New York City for a year. But when her mom takes a two-month job as a flautist in Europe and sends Sam off to live with her Uncle Mitch, whom she hasn’t seen in a decade, she shatters Sam’s dreams of stability. Sam travels to South Carolina only to be met by a surprised Uncle Mitch who was not expecting her. Foggy Harbor is a seaside town marked by a nightly mist so heavy it seems magical, and its main street charm includes Dr. Thompson’s veterinary office. The vet’s son, Tuck, becomes fast friends with Sam, and together they discover a secret island hidden in the ocean fog populated by unicorns and a frost-breathing wyvern. When one of the unicorns falls ill, Sam and Tuck know Dr. Thompson can help—but telling her would mean breaching the secret of the unicorns. Sam feels genuine as she deals with the emotional trauma of her mom’s departure and her uncle’s initially cool reception with maturity, and readers will connect with Sam and Tuck’s desire to solve this supernatural mystery. Color illustrations add a dreamy, fairy-tale–like quality while aftermatter expands on different elements of the text. Sam and her family are White; Tuck and his mother are Black.

An accessible and fast-paced magical adventure.