Can a clever young inventor uncover a ruthless pirate's heart of gold?
Thrilling sea adventure takes on a hint of steampunk in the second book
by the author of the acclaimed Hour of the Bees.
When her parents, the great marine scientists Dr. and Dr. Quail, are
killed in a tragic accident, eleven-year-old Fidelia Quail is racked by
grief--and guilt. It was a submarine of Fidelia's invention that her
parents were in when they died, and it was she who pressed them to stay
out longer when the raging Undertow was looming. But Fidelia is forced
out of her mourning when she's kidnapped by Merrick the Monstrous, a
pirate whose list of treasons stretches longer than a ribbon eel. Her
task? Use her marine know-how to retrieve his treasure, lost on the
ocean floor.
But as Fidelia and the pirates close in on the prize, with the navy hot
on their heels, she realizes that Merrick doesn't expect to live long
enough to enjoy his loot.
Could something other than black-hearted greed be driving him? Will
Fidelia be able to master the perils of the ocean without her
parents--and piece together the mystery of Merrick the Monstrous before
it's too late?