Cover Reveal: Lourdes Heuer's translation of Martha Riva Palacio Obón's Secrets We Tell the Sea!

We are excited to share the stunning cover for Lourdes Heuer's translation of Martha Riva Palacio Obón's award-winning middle-grade novel about family, grief, and the sea. Secrets We Tell the Sea, published by Bloomsbury Children's Books, will be released on October 24, 2023. 

But first, a little bit about the book:

The only good thing about Sofia's mom sending her to live with her abuela is that finally Sofia and the sea will meet face-to-face.

The sea has always called to Sofia. That's how she knows she’s a mermaid—that, and the fact that the ocean and its creatures are much easier to understand than people. Sofia longs to meet another mermaid, someone who understands her and the sea completely. And when she meets Luisa, it seems like she's found just that—until the sea betrays them both in one irreversible moment. Soon their town is overtaken by hurricanes and floods and emotions and questions so big Sofia doesn't know what to do with them. Like, how do you make friends with the sea again? And how do you calm the rough waters within yourself?

Book cover designed by John Candell and illustrated by Dana SanMar.

Lourdes Heuer is a children's book author, poet, translator, and college professor. Her debut picture book, On this Airplane, illustrated by Pura Belpré Award Honoree Sara Palacios, was selected in 2023 for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The first book in the Esme! early chapter book series, Esme's Birthday Conga Line, with art by #1 New York Times Bestselling illustrator Marissa Valdez, was named a 2022 Chicago Public Library Best Fiction Book for Younger Readers and one of Evanston Public Library's 101 Great Books for Kids of 2022. 

​The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Lourdes was born in Spain and immigrated to the United States in 1984. She currently resides in South Florida.
​Find her on Instagram and Twitter.

Pre-order Secrets We Tell the Sea today!
Add Secrets We Tell the Sea to your Goodreads!

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