THE MONSTER STORM

The second installment in the Seashell Key series sees the island’s inhabitants enjoying autumn.

In the first of four stories, Mateo’s determined to win one of the fall festival’s competitions. He enters the pie contest, hoping to make up for his lack of baking know-how with enthusiasm; his results are “interesting” (in the words of the judge) but unsuccessful. Next, he enters the costume contest with a wild monster suit, but the judge is Sasha, a no-nonsense youngster who goes for realism above all. Finally, Mateo enters the scarecrow contest, where judge Sophia—Sasha’s more free-spirited sister—appreciates his unconventional approach. In the second entry, Lifeguard Luca trains Sasha and Sophia to teach the younger kids how to swim; imaginative Sophia takes the metaphorical instructions literally. In the third story, a long-anticipated storm arrives, and Eli, Ezra, and Elana—three siblings who live in a lighthouse—entertain themselves with not-too-scary tales of “the monster of Seashell Key.” In the final entry, following the storm, the trio search for their dog, Pixie, who’s gone missing; along the way, they run across various potential monsters (all of which are callbacks to previous stories). Throughout the narrative, Heuer employs the comedic “rule of threes” to create gentle tension and a structure supportive of newly independent readers. In the lively illustrations, Mateo and Lifeguard Luca are brown-skinned, Sasha and Sophia are Black, and the lighthouse trio present white.

Whimsical and spritely.