El Niño
by Pam Muñoz Ryan; illus. by Joe Cepeda
Intermediate, Middle School    Scholastic    256 pp.
5/25    9781338068559    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781338068610    $18.99
Spanish ed.  9781546176473    $8.99

Thirteen-year-old Kai is anxious to continue the family legacy on his new elite swim team. Since his superstar older sister, Cali, disappeared while surfing two years before, swimming has felt bittersweet. Authorities have moved on from the search, but Kai receives signs that Cali is still out there: a dolphin with unique markings that the two of them had spotted together visits when he surfs, and Kai even hears Cali call out to him from their backyard beach in the middle of the night. When Kai discovers his sister’s favorite book about an ancient, underwater Realm, the mythical sunken Island of California, ruled by Queen Califia (for whom Cali is named), he becomes convinced that’s where she has gone. The novel is divided into four sections—Above, Below, Between, Beyond—and excerpts from the mythology book are interspersed, mirroring the plot’s blend of fantasy and realism. Kai tries to keep his grief distant, but it permeates his life, both with his newfound obsession with mythology and with more earthly concerns such as awkward interactions with peers addressing his loss and the worrying drop in his swimming performance. Whimsical pencil-style digital drawings bring the elaborate Realm to life in a way that feels cathartic, and for anyone who has experienced the call of the water, this book is a thoughtful exploration of the wonders of the ocean—real, imagined, and unexplained.

From the July/August 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.