Secrets of Stone and Sea

by Allison K. Hymas

Overview

A summer visiting grandma turns into an epic life-or-death middle-grade adventure about twin brothers who must use their wits to keep the god of the sea from sinking their city.

Rise, the ocean rise,
Rise and greet the shore,
With red and bread, he feeds on the dead
And meets you at the door.

In Allison K. Hymas's Secrets of Stone and Sea, twelve-year-old identical twins Peter and Kai are spending the summer in the town of Seaspire when ancient legends quickly pit the boys against a furious sea creature with the power to destroy worlds and sink cities. To prevent it from drowning the entire town of Seaspire, they'll have to solve a set of codes and puzzles with ties to the lost city of Atlantis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250799487
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	10/18/2022
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Allison K. Hymas is the author of Secrets of Stone and Sea and The Explorer's Code. She was born on the anniversary of the day Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly nonstop and solo across the Atlantic. She was born in Utah and raised in Virginia and Pennsylvania, where she enjoyed spending time in the mountains and forests. She currently lives in Provo, UT, where she teaches writing, visits national parks, and runs very long distances for fun.
Allison K. Hymas was born on the anniversary of the day Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly nonstop and solo across the Atlantic. She was born in Utah and raised in Virginia and Pennsylvania, where she enjoyed spending time in the mountains and forests. She currently lives in Provo, UT, where she teaches writing, visits national parks, and runs very long distances for fun. Her books include The Explorer's Code and Secrets of Stone and Sea.

Editorial Reviews

08/22/2022

History and mythology explosively converge in a sibling-centered, summertime New England fantasy by Hymas (The Explorer’s Code). When 12-year-old identical twins Kai and Peter Syracuse throw a sneeze-bloodied hot dog into the ocean near Seaspire, Mass.’s purportedly haunted lighthouse, neither expects to awaken a vicious, godlike sea monster. But the easily slighted entity promises to flood Seaspire on the next full moon, leaving the twins little time to banish the monster back to its maritime prison. Setting off on a quest to save the town, Kai and Peter enlist the help of their specialist family: their ancient-weapons-wielding grandmother, Greek archeologist mother, English teacher father, and capable older sister. Poetry, patterns, puzzles, and new powers guide the twins to destinations throughout Massachusetts, where they destroy a series of booby-trapped symbols to contain the monster. Yet impulsive Kai and cautious Peter are continually at odds, threatening the success of their mission. Cheeky humor and familiar lore keep the cinematic scenes moving, while themes of powerful familial bonds, teamwork, and leveraging individual strengths ground the quick-moving plotline. Characters present as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Lauren Abramo, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"History and mythology explosively converge in a sibling-centered, summertime New England fantasy. . . . Cheeky humor and familiar lore keep the cinematic scenes moving, while themes of powerful familial bonds, teamwork, and leveraging individual strengths ground the quick-moving plotline." —Publishers Weekly

"Readers with an interest in codes and ciphers will be impressed with the clues embedded in the story and the layers of sea versus land allusions as the hints and secrets are revealed." —Kirkus Reviews

"This action-packed book will engage young readers with clever wordplay and mysteries, as Kai and Peter face their fears on land and sea." —BCCB

Praise for The Explorer's Code:

“Full of puzzles and intrigue, this is a delectable treat for readers wanting a brainteaser or two in an intricately paced package.” —Kirkus Reviews

"The Explorer's Code contains the perfect trifecta for middle-grade readers: buried secrets, puzzles to decode, and a dark, creepy old manor house to explore. A great addition to the adventure genre." —Suzanne Selfors, national bestselling author of The Imaginary Veterinary series and Braver

From the Publisher

2022-08-17
Are you strong enough to battle the sea?

Impulsive twin Kai, whose name means sea, and contemplative twin Peter, whose name means rock, leave Ohio to visit their retired history professor grandmother in Seaspire, Massachusetts, along with their father and older sister—their Greek American archaeologist mom is away on a Mediterranean dig. The boys unwittingly perform an ancient ritual that unleashes a terrifying ancient sea god that will ascend to its full power during the next full moon, only a week away, and use its might to attack and flood the land. Armed with this knowledge and Kai’s new ability to read every language in existence thanks to his connection with the creature, the family sets out to save the land. Thankfully, hints of the creature remain in myth, oral tradition, and literature, and they are able to work together to uncover seven seals that may be the key to stopping the creature—or will they unlock something worse? Readers with an interest in codes and ciphers will be impressed with the clues embedded in the story and the layers of sea versus land allusions as the hints and secrets are revealed, but they may be distracted by the characters’ interactions. The family members act and respond more like people in a book who are working toward predetermined plot points than a real family caught in the crosshairs of a primordial god. All characters are coded White.

Like the sea: sometimes choppy, sometimes smooth sailing. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews