Oxford English Dictionary

As the children watched, mouths hanging open, the vine reached the boat and began to coil itself around the mast as if it were the trunk of a tree. Other vines, seeming to move of their own volition, were coming down out of the jungle, and the air began to thicken with green cords. …For a moment, Maya feared that the vines would snap the mast in two or cause the whole boat to capsize. The children gazed in stunned silence as the vines drew the Pamela Jane slowly through the water toward the shore, where she came to rest. Then, wrapped snuggly around the vessel, they stopped moving.

Imagine living on the ocean, sailing on the luminescent blue seas every day of your life, wondering if you’ll ever have a normal existence on land. That’s what life is like for 13-year-old Maya Nelson sharing a small boat with her mother, father, little brother and infant baby sister. That is until the big storm. When the big storm hits, her mother and father are swept out to sea, hopelessly lost to their three very frightened young children. It’s up to Maya to steer the boat to a nearby island so that she and her siblings can rescue them. Unbeknownst to the children, however, they’ve not landed on any ordinary island. They’ve landed on Tamarind, an island so lost to the outside world that its existence is thought to be a myth. Soon, Maya and her brother and sister are in a race against all the dangers of the mysterious island torn apart by civil war and pirates. Yes! I said, PIRATES! This is an island with funny little villages living entirely in the highest branches of trees, terrible man-eating vines, evil child-stealing sorceresses, friendly giants, beautiful singing mermaids, and so much more. Will the children find their parents and escape this wild and fanciful island? Will they survive at all? You’ll have to read The Lost Island of Tamarind to find out!

NOTES:
This book contains some frightening imagery and characters that may not be suitable for younger readers.

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