NATICK, Mass., Oct. 6, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Well-written with vivid illustrations, Sea Angel is a book that should not be missed! Written and illustrated by author Ella McLella, this book promises a fantastic mix of colors, art, and engaging narrative on every page.
Seahorses are enchanted creatures, but a sea angel is the sea's greatest secret. The sea designates certain seahorses to become sea angels. Sea angels warn and protect the other small sea creatures from unexpected dangers.
Sandrine is a sea angel. Her younger sister, Solange, is designated to become a sea angel but cannot quite get there because she is careless and self-centered. When their grandmother's exoskeleton becomes grey and creaky due to the colder climate where they live, they make an incredible and perilous journey to the warmer waters of the Caribbean. They take up residence in a shipwreck and for a while, their lives seem safe and wonderful. But on a nearby island, a diver and his son have just arrived. The diver's only goal in life is the relentless pursuit of treasure beneath the sea. The diver is now focused on the shipwreck where Sandrine and her family live.
One night, as Sandrine is waiting anxiously to meet her younger sister, the diver, angry that he cannot find the treasure in the shipwreck, plucks Sandrine from the sea. He gives Sandrine to his son as an ornament for his aquarium. Although the diver's son takes very good care of Sandrine, he realizes that she is starting to waste away in captivity. Solange, realizing that her carelessness has led to Sandrine's disappearance, changes her ways. Will true friendship and a relentless search save the sea's greatest secret?
The author brings the reader on a series of adventures that include escaping from the path of a submarine, outdistancing a tidal wave, ducking an oil slick, and being rescued from the nets of a shrimp trawler. Laced with fun facts about the ocean's flora and fauna, Sea Angel transports the reader through kelp and gorgonian forests to an underwater mountain and a haunted sea of lost ships. Sea Angel is an entertaining and informative read for ages 7 to 11.
"From the Kelp Forest to the Sargasso Sea, no setting is predictable, and like a marine version of Narnia, the characters are at once familiar and otherworldly. A story that sparkles like its protagonist's gossamer transparent wings."
-- Kirkus Discoveries
This book will be featured in the New England Library Association (Regional) Book Exhibit in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 18-20, 2009. For more information, log on to www.Xlibris.com.
Sea Angel * by Ella McLella
Publication Date: September 29, 2009
Picture Book; $24.99; 64 pages; 978-1-4363-6108-8
Picture Book Hardcover; $31.99; 64 pages; 978-1-4363-6109-5
To request a complimentary paperback review copy, contact the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 7479. Tear sheets may be sent by regular or electronic mail to Marketing Services. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (610) 915-0294 or call (888) 795-4274 x. 7876.
For more information, contact Xlibris at (888) 795-4274 or on the web at www.Xlibris.com.