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    Lalani of the Distant Sea
    Lalani of the Distant Sea
    Lalani of the Distant Sea
    Audiobook6 hours

    Lalani of the Distant Sea

    Written by Erin Entrada Kelly

    Narrated by LuLu Lam

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    “Fast-paced and full of wonder, this is a powerful, gripping must-read.”—Kirkus (starred review)

    “A lush and mysterious fable, full of beauty, full of wonder.”—Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal–winning author of When You Reach Me

    Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly’s debut fantasy novel is a gorgeous, literary adventure about bravery, friendship, self-reliance, and the choice between accepting fate or forging your own path.

    When Lalani Sarita’s mother falls ill with an incurable disease, Lalani embarks on a dangerous journey across the sea in the hope of safeguarding her own future. Inspired by Filipino folklore, this engrossing fantasy is for readers who loved Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Disney’s Moana.

    Life is difficult on the island of Sanlagita. To the west looms a vengeful mountain, one that threatens to collapse and bury the village at any moment. To the north, a dangerous fog swallows sailors who dare to venture out, looking for a more hospitable land. And what does the future hold for young girls? Chores and more chores.

    When Lalani Sarita’s mother falls gravely ill, twelve-year-old Lalani faces an impossible task—she must leave Sanlagita and find the riches of the legendary Mount Isa, which towers on an island to the north. But generations of men and boys have died on the same quest—how can an ordinary girl survive the epic tests of the archipelago? And how will she manage without Veyda, her best friend?

    Newbery Medalist and New York Times–bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly’s debut fantasy novel is inspired by Filipino folklore and is an unforgettable coming-of-age story about friendship, courage, and identity. Perfect for fans of Lauren Wolk’s Beyond the Bright Sea and Kelly Barnhill’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon. 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 3, 2019
    ISBN9780062911179
    Author

    Erin Entrada Kelly

    Erin Entrada Kelly was awarded the Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe and a Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space. She grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and now lives in Delaware. She is a professor of children’s literature in the graduate fiction and publishing programs at Rosemont College, where she earned her MFA, and is on the faculty at Hamline University. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Philippines Free Press Literary Award for Short Fiction and the Pushcart Prize. Before becoming a children’s author, Erin worked as a journalist and magazine editor and received numerous awards for community service journalism, feature writing, and editing from the Louisiana Press Association and the Associated Press. Erin Entrada Kelly’s debut novel, Blackbird Fly, was a Kirkus Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, an ALSC Notable Book, and an Asian/Pacific American Literature Honor Book. She is also the author of The Land of Forgotten Girls, winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature; You Go First, a Spring 2018 Indie Next Pick; Lalani of the Distant Sea, an Indie Next Pick; Those Kids from Fawn Creek, named to numerous best-of-the-year lists; and three acclaimed novels for younger readers, Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey, Surely Surely Marisol Rainey, and Only Only Marisol Rainey, which she also illustrated. She lives in Delaware.

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    Reviews for Lalani of the Distant Sea

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    • 5/5
      It is the best book ever it is so great I loved every single minute of the audiobook is perfect.???????????❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️????????????♥️??????♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️???????❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️??❤️??❤️?❤️??❤️?????❤️?❤️???❤️?❤️??❤️??❤️???❤️?❤️??❤️???❤️❤️???????????❤️??❤️??❤️?❤️????????❤️???❤️❤️??????❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️??❤️❤️???❤️???❤️❤️???❤️??❤️????❤️?❤️??❤️❤️???❤️???❤️???????❤️????❤️?❤️??❤️?❤️????❤️??❤️???❤️???? .
    • 5/5
      Unlike anything I've ever read. So imaginative, I loved it. Also absolutely a shout-out to everyone behind the audiobook, which was incredibly well-done and really fitted the tone of the book.
    • 4/5
      Lalani lives on an island where the women must spend their lives mending fishing nets and fearing the deadly disease some contract from pricking themselves with the needles, while the men rule. The natural environment on the island is just as harsh: it hasn't rained in so long that crops are failing and there's not enough drinking water, and they live in the shadow of a mountain they all think is inhabited by a monster and a mountain spirit who's easily angered. Circumstances worsen, especially for young Lalani, to the point that she decides to sail for the fabled land to the north for aid on a mist-filled sea that has yet to allow anyone who has attempted the journey to return.Not my favorite of Kelly's books, but still pretty darn good. Think Moana but slightly darker and with a slightly more intricate set of fantastical beings.
    • 3/5
      children's middlegrade magical realism fiction (fictional island village with rich folklore filled with mysticism and women/girls stuck in domestic servitude)
      Read to p. 120 (about 1/3 of the way through). This was more world-building than plot or character development. It took over a hundred pages before Lalani met the man of the mountain, and there are also odd tangent strings (stories told, sidebar stories on what is happening to thusfar minor character Hesbi) that contribute to the world-building but not much else. It is lyrically written, but I didn't feel that it was particularly going anywhere. I imagine the tween boy Hesbi takes a larger role later, but got tired of waiting for Lalani's story to begin.
      Kirkus calls this "fast-paced" and "gripping," but I would say "quiet" and something like "curious."
    • 4/5
      Lalani lives in a village on a tropical island named Sanlagita. The island has Mount Kahna where a beast is said to live. The villagers don’t dare climb the mountain and say daily benedictions to the mountain. Across the water the island of Isa is a promised land of sorts; if only they could get there they could bring back riches. But no Sanlagitan sailors have ever survived the trip to Isa. Lalani actually meets the beast of Mount Kahna who grants her wish for rain. But when the rain doesn't stop, Lalani decides to sail alone to Isa and get help from Fei Diwata.