The Lost Island of Tamarind

It is not down on any map; true places never are.

Maya Nelson isn't your typical thirteen-year-old. She's spent her whole life living on the sea with her marine biologist parents, her younger brother, Simon, and baby sister, Penny. Maya used to love living on a sailboat, but lately, everything feels terribly claustrophobic. Maya longs to go to school on land. To make friends. To lead a normal life. But when a violent storm hits and Maya's parents are washed overboard, life becomes anything but normal. The children manage to steer the boat toward a mysterious island, to a place that doesn't exist on a map.

Welcome to Tamarind, where fish can fly, pirates patrol the waters, jaguars lurk, the islanders are at war, and an evil, child-stealing enchantress rules the jungle.

Maya never imagined she'd have to face so many dangers. But then, who could have imagined a place like Tamarind?

In her stunning first middle grade novel, The Lost Island of Tamarind, Nadia Aguiar tells a heart-pounding adventure story about a haunting, fantastical island cut off from the outside world. The adventure continues in book two, Secrets of Tamarind, and book three, The Great Wave of Tamarind.

“The book’s magic . . . lies in Aguiar’s precise, often lyrical descriptions.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Aguiar’s exciting debut novel is a cross between Peter Pan and Lost.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Spunky kids, perilous pursuits and marine mystery make for a smashing good read.” —
Kirkus Reviews

“Each detail of this fantasy is crafted with care; readers will be drawn into this dangerous, magical world where anything is possible.” —School Library Journal

"Aguiar's exciting debut novel is a cross between Peter Pan and Lost. . . . Developed with seeming ease, each new character advances the plot logically and fluidly.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The book's magic . . . lies in Aguiar's precise, often lyrical descriptions. A native and resident of Bermuda, she writes with authority about daily life in the tropics. . . . The Lost Island of Tamarind has a gentle spirit, tempering its dangers with warmth.” —The New York Times Book Review

"Each detail of this fantasy is crafted with care; readers will be drawn into this dangerous, magical world where anything is possible and nothing can be fully explained...Young people will be transported to a world so different from the one they currently inhabit, following along as Maya and Simon escape their adversaries and struggle to survive in this hostile land.” —School Library Journal