ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Medina, Meg

Graciela in the Abyss

256 pp. | Candlewick | July, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9781536219456 $18.99
(1) 4-6 When Graciela fell to her death into the sea as a girl, she became, after a one-hundred-year sleep, a sea spirit. Now she's impatient to earn the markers of experience in this watery realm as she learns from Amina, her Spirit Guide and friend. In the world on shore, Jorge toils as a blacksmith alongside his antagonistic parents but longs to create metal toys. His family is hated for the magic sea-spirit-slaying harpoon his great-grandfather made that sent a fisherman to his watery grave nearly a century before -- and Jorge has just discovered the weapon. In a quick-paced chain of events, Graciela hides a huge secret from Amina; the fisherman awakens as a sea spirit; and Jorge tries to destroy the harpoon, in the process tumbling into the water and striking Amina accidentally. Jorge and Graciela must team up to save Amina and the rest of the sea spirits from the evil harpoon and the fisherman's band of Needlers -- menaces of the spirit world. Medina has devised an intricate underwater world full of fanciful explanations for ocean-related phenomena and unusual characters who would feel at home in Baum's Oz (especially the taunting Needlers), matched by the Balbussos' gorgeous, layered, mixed-media illustrations in grayscale. Graciela is imperfect and relatable as she learns to process loss from both her life before and now, and Jorge is endearing, from the book's start through its heartwarming conclusion.
Reviewer: Monica de los Reyes | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2025

RELATED 

INTERMEDIATE FICTION

The Republic of Birds
by Miller, Jessica
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Atlantis
by Mone, Gregory
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

It Doesn't Take a Genius
by Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
by Rivera, Kaela
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Soul Lanterns
by Kuzki, Shaw
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?