Mermaid Vera and octo-kid Beaker are back in this early reader series from Newbery honoree and Stonewall Award winner Kyle Lukoff! In their undersea town of Tidal Grove, they take a field trip to a tide pool and meet the animals who live there, then encounter some friendly sea monsters and show them around the town. These gentle adventures are full of humor, tidbits of undersea facts (provided by Vera and Beaker’s frog-legged teacher, Mr. Burbles), and light messages about friendship across difference, being helpful, and more. Kat Uno’s illustrations are colorful and charming.
Beaker uses they/them pronouns, although this is not part of the plot. Both Vera and Beaker read as Asian; other characters read as Black and White.
