I’ve noticed a change in the air and online: beach days, green grass, bike rides and popsicles are rapidly being replaced by pumpkins, black cats, red leaves and PSLs. And yes, we all know what this means: fall is coming. As a consummate lover of the summer season, I refuse to let go and have decided to boycott fall by digging into reads that will extend my summer. Fable (book 1) and Namesake (book 2) by Adrienne Young are just the books to accomplish this dangerous feat. As a salty seafaring duology set on vibrant coral reefs with epic storms, knife fights, shipwrecks and a fierce seventeen-year-old red head at the helm, Young’s latest works invite readers to dive in headfirst. Fable begins with the main character, Fable, doing just that: leaping from the shoreline to catch a ride on a small skiff so that she can dive for and sell precious gemstones buried in the reefs surrounding her makeshift island home.

We find out that Fable was abandoned by her father to this island life years earlier following a devastating shipwreck. Her objective is to sell enough gems to buy passage across the perilous sea to find her father. Of course, all does not go according to plan; Fable discovers that the ship she bartered passage on is more than it appears and that the crew is hiding something from her. Though danger lurks around every corner and Fable initially trusts no one, she eventually comes to learn that a crew can become a family and a ship can become a home.  

Namesake continues this narrative but ramps up the action, beginning with Fable’s kidnapping and spiriting away across the sea. The plot thickens when Fable is delivered to Holland, the most powerful and dangerous gem-trader on the high seas – and Holland has a few demands of her own. To protect the people she loves, Fable must use all the tools in her gem-diving tool belt and head back out to sea to find Holland’s lost treasure.

If you enjoyed the movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, then I think that this is a duology you can get behind. We have Fable, the strong and fearless hero, driven by love for her father, who joins a ragtag crew of ruffians to get the job done. If you like quick reads with action and adventure and a hero who can kick butt and does not take guff from anybody, then Fable and Namesake are two books you should consider when extending your summer reading list. Did I mention there’s a sprinkle of romance thrown in? That’s right. What’s summer without some puppy love?

– Miriam S.