“Beautiful, remarkable, amazing, and wonderful in every way.”
–Kirkus (Starred Review)
The Secret of the Magic Pearl
By Elisa Sabatinelli & Iacopo Bruno
92 pages • Hardcover • Ages 6-10 • Available: October 12
$21.99 • 8” x 9.25" • ISBN: 978-1-63655-006-0
Translated by Christopher Turner
“Sabatinelli provides Hector with a voice that soars with lilting, expressive language, losing nothing in Turner’s translation from Italian. Bruno’s intensely bright, sharply hued illustrations are a tour de force . . . The sea is evoked with glorious dreamlike color and movement, and characters’ features and expressions immediately announce their nature, emotions, and quirks . . . Hector is wise, kind, and readers will take him to their hearts. Beautiful, remarkable, amazing, and wonderful in every way.”
– Kirkus (Starred Review)
Hector lives with his family at the Marina in an Italian coastal town where they organize tourist expeditions to explore the many wonders of the sea. Hector’s dream is to become a deep-sea diver, just like his father. Then, one day, an unscrupulous entrepreneur opens a much newer center next door, forcing them to close their business. This man has a single purpose, to find the legendary Pearl in order to sell it and make money. Hector decides to find a way to thwart the plan and save what matters most to him: the sea, his family, and his dream.
Catalog Page
Elisa Sabatinelli
Elisa Sabatinelli was born in Fano, Italy, in 1985. As a young girl, her family moved to her mother’s hometown of Barcelona in Spain. There she attended school and graduated college with a degree in screenwriting. In 2013 she created the festival Cortili Letterari, dedicated to Italian authors under 35, which takes place in Fano every year. In 2016, a novel, On My Skin (published by Rizzoli). Since 2008, she has been working as an editorial coordinator in publishing, ghostwriting and reading manuscripts. Elisa lives in Milan with her husband, Andrea, and her two children, Ottavia and Giovanni. This is her first book for children.
Digital Book
Iacopo Bruno
Iacopo Bruno lives and works between Milan (200 kilometers from the sea) and Levanto (2 meters from the sea). He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, dedicating himself for many years to painting. His passion for illustration arrived later when he participated in an illustration contest as part of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. He has illustrated hundreds of book covers and received recognition from prestigious organizations such as the Society of Illustrators in New York, the Cook Prize, and Junior Library Guild. His picture book Sergeant Reckless, written by Patricia McCormick (Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins), won the Texas Bluebonnet Award in 2019. When he is not drawing, he takes his boat in search of dolphins.
