Read Across America Picks - Day 8

by Rita Spaulding, NJLA Board Member

It's Read Across America Week and the NJLA Board is highlighting stories that you can share with children in classrooms or at home. Today's choice is Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan. This modern Jules Verne-style tale is packed with excitement!

This is an intriguing read for children between the ages of 9 - 12. In this recent book, by the author of the Percy Jackson series, we meet a character named Ana Dakkar. She is a 14-year-old student at a boarding school which trains children for underwater exploration. When disaster strikes, she finds out that not only was Captain Nemo - of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea fame - not a fictional character, but she is his descendant. Faced with his fascinating legacy, under attack and possibly with a turncoat among her crew, Ana needs to decide what kind of Captain she is going to be on her ship. The book, which has a diverse cast, including a character with autism, is integrated with belief in the power of communication to solve problems. It is an action-adventure, science fiction story, which pays tribute to Jules Verne. Read to find out how Ana overcomes these challenges and much more. This novel looks likely to be the first in a new series by this bestselling author.