Island of Appledore

Off the rocky New England coast lies Appledore, an island where the very stones sing. When the granite boulders begin their deep, mournful chorus, the fishermen know a storm is coming. This is the Calling of Appledore, the island's ancient warning that has echoed for generations, and it is only the beginning of Billy Wentworth's summer. Among the wind-shaped spruces and fields of impossible red poppies, Billy discovers that Appledore holds secrets older than memory: a mystery buried in the island's past, a connection to the sea that runs through his family, and a choice that will test everything he thought he knew about courage and belonging. Cornelia Meigs crafts a world so vivid you can taste the salt air and hear the endless percussion of waves against stone. This is adventure the way it used to be written: unhurried, atmospheric, and rooted in the real magic of landscape. For readers who have ever longed for a place that feels like home even when they've never been there.