Emily Windsnap series
Author: Liz Kessler
Illustrator: Sarah Gibb
Book 1: The Tail of Emily Windsnap
Published April 27th, 2010 by Candlewick Press
Book 6: Emily Windsnap and the Ship of Lost Souls
Published August 4th, 2015 by Candlewick Press
To celebrate the book birthday of the sixth book in the Emily Windsnap series, we want to share with you information about the series, a link to the activity kit for the series, an exclusive interview with the author, and a giveaway of ALL of the books in the series!
The Tail of Emily Windsnap Goodread’s Summary: For as long as she can remember, twelve-year-old Emily Windsnap has lived on a boat. And, oddly enough, for just as long, her mother has seemed anxious to keep her away from the water. But when Mom finally agrees to let her take swimming lessons, Emily makes a startling discovery – about her own identity, the mysterious father she’s never met, and the thrilling possibilities and perils shimmering deep below the water’s surface. With a sure sense of suspense and richly imaginative details, first-time author Liz Kessler lures us into a glorious undersea world where mermaids study shipwrecks at school and Neptune rules with an iron trident – an enchanting fantasy about family secrets, loyal friendship, and the convention-defying power of love.
Emily Windsnap and the Ship of Lost Souls Publisher’s Summary: A field trip to a mysterious island quickly turns into an adventure when Emily Windsnap and Aaron discover a secret lookout point from which they spot a ghostly ship that no one else seems to be able to see. The ship appears and disappears only at certain times of day—growing fainter each time. Searching for answers only leads to more questions until Emily and her friends confront the island’s keeper, uncovering the incredible story of a ship caught between land and sea, day and night . . . life and death. Only Emily, with her ability to transform from mermaid to human, can enter Atlantis to try to bring the ship’s passengers back before the portal is closed forever. Emily knows that if she fails, not only will the passengers never see their loved ones again, but Emily won’t be able to return either. Will she be able to resist the allure of Atlantis and return home before it’s too late?
Activity Kit can be accessed here.
About the Author: Liz Kessler is the author of the New York Times best-selling series about Emily Windsnap as well as three adventures about Philippa Fisher and her fairy godsister. She is also the author of the middle-grade novels A Year Without Autumn, North of Nowhere, and Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins? and the Poppy the Pirate Dog series for young readers. Liz Kessler lives in England.
Twitter: @LizKessler
Website: http://www.lizkessler.co.uk/
Unleashing Readers: What has been the hardest aspect of writing a series? What has been the most rewarding?
Liz Kessler: The hardest thing is making sure I remember everything that has gone before. I once knew an author who had one of her characters doing something in a book and had forgotten that she’d killed him off in an earlier chapter! Luckily, I don’t generally kill off my characters (I’d miss them too much) but when you are writing the sixth book in a series, that’s five books-worth of characters and stories to remember!
Most rewarding – I love having interaction with my readers and hearing about how Emily has inspired them, either with their reading or in their lives in general.
UR: How has Emily changed and grown throughout the series?
LK: Well, in many ways, she is the same person as she started out being: she likes adventure, she will always look after her friends and family, and she will always stand up for what she believes in. But she has matured a bit as the series has gone on. For one thing, she now has a boyfriend as well as a best friend! For another, I think that she thinks about things a little bit more before plunging into the next adventure. Luckily for me – and for my readers – she still plunges in once she’s thought about it! Life would be boring if she didn’t!
UR: How did you plan the series? Did you have the whole series outlined when you wrote the first book?
LK: Not at all. I wrote one book, had the second in mind and didn’t know what would happen after that! Each time, I’ve had a new idea and something that I’ve wanted to explore, and I’ve loved diving back into each book.
UR: What other character in the series do you think has had the biggest effect on Emily?
LK: Gosh. Good question. The other characters affect her in different ways. Shona gives her confidence and makes her feel good about having a best friend. Emily has a LOT of adventures because of her friendship with Shona. Mandy made her think about forgiveness on quite a deep level, as did Mr Beeston. Neptune is the one who challenges her the most. And Aaron has brought out a whole new side to her. Can I say all of them???! 🙂
UR: Next to Emily, who is your favorite mermaid?
LK: I love the ‘Real Mermaids’ series by Hélène Boudreau right now.
Check out other U.S. Windsnap Wednesday stops
Thank you so much to Liz Kessler for the interview and Candlewick Press for providing copies of the books for giveaway!
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I don’t know this series, possibly because I taught kids who were older & read mostly YA books. It sounds wonderfully imaginative and adventurous. Thanks for sharing & for the interview!
Imaginative and adventurous are exactly the words I chose to describe it 🙂
Great interview & Giveaway!!!
Thank you Josh!
I hadn’t heard of this series before, but I’ve had so many students who would absolutely love it! The first book sounds like it could include a lot of opportunities for inference making, which would be a great skill for my students to practice.
And a lot of predicting as well!
Thank you for stopping by Lorraine!