The young chapter book, Search for the Silver Shell: A Branches Book (Coral Keepers #1) by Robin Yardi and Paul Kellam (illustrator) fell a little short for me as an adult reader. But the aged 6 to 9 reader will find the fantasy and friendship elements exciting and fun.
It is a part fantasy, part mystery, and (mostly) adventure. This is a new series that feels both “old school” and modern with the diverse characters, the type of freedom the children have and keeps the “princess” and her BFFs classicness. There is nothing that WOWed me, but I was curious about the end (it is open ended, but also “this chapter” is completed). I liked the idea of magical mermaids that control a type of magic specific to an area of the ocean (light, turtles, sharks). The “mixed marriage” (a queen who has no powers, a father who does) aspect adds another element to the diversity.
The adventure itself is minimal, but decent for the young reader. Our princess cannot pass her magic test, but that comes in handy in the end. There is a villainous twin who is brother to the captain of the guard (both brother and sister, along with the princess, have shark magic). And there is a missing father. The fate of the world is on the shoulders of one really tiny girl (probably around 7 to 9); her best friend (also around 7 to 9) and the younger brother of her best friend (around aged 6). Believable? No. Cute? Yes. Encouraging for the aimed audience to see what they can do if they try? Yes.
Black and white, mostly minimalistic images pepper the pages. They can be busy (the map of the queendom) but mostly they are just there to show you our heroes. Color could have been fun, but the type of book does not really lend itself to that. They, along with the text, are there to get the story moving along. And while I liked the novel, I probably won’t be going onto book two.
