Sea Legs

Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

Set sail for adventure! Dive in to this hilarious and moving middle grade graphic memoir about friendship, growing up, and life at sea.Janey's family is about to set sail for the adventure of a lifetime! The only problem? Janey must leave her school, her life, her best friend, the entire country behind for new adventures — coral reefs, colorful markets, and new cultures. Life at sea is exhilarating, but there’s a major downside: when you’re raising anchor every few days with sights on a new harbor, it’s almost impossible to make new friends.Finally, Janey meets the cool and aloof Astrid — a fellow boat kid who’s equally starved for friendship. But Astrid can be a challenging friend to navigate, and beyond that, hurricane season has only just begun . . . .At turns laugh-out-loud hilarious and heartbreakingly poingnant, this stunning middle grade graphic memoir charts both the turbulence and joys of growing up.

About the Author

Jules Bakes spent her childhood sailing around the Caribbean and South America, but these days she works at Yale University. She lives in Hamden, Connecticut with her husband, two weirdo little dogs, and the ghosts of many fish. This is her first novel.

Niki Smith is the author and artist of the Lambda Literary Award-nominated graphic novel The Deep & Dark Blue. Her book The Golden Hour was a Kirkus, SLJ, and NYPL Best Book of 2021. When she’s not drawing comics, she’s collecting embroidery hoops and zines and learning to draw boats. Niki now lives in Munich, Germany with her wife and two bilingual cats.