Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 04/28/2025 When the eponymous protagonist learns of a mystery that needs solving aboard a luxury liner, it’s all hands on deck in this bustling historical tale by previous collaborators Eagle and Rioux (The Pear Affair). Twelve-year-old Patch often feels like "the kind of parcel that no one wants to receive." Since she was born, she’s lived with her father in Kensington, her aunt in Surrey, her grandmother in Northumberland, her uncle in Essex, and with a second cousin twice removed in Islington. Deemed "unmanageable" by the cousin, Patch is next sent to the Liverpool Institute High School for Girls, where she will be cared for by a family friend in the school’s employ. But when she arrives at the seaside institution, Patch’s new guardian is away. Instead, Patch encounters young American deckhand Turo, on shore leave from cruise ship the RMS Glorious, and she soon finds herself heading unceremoniously to sea as an accidental stowaway. Aboard, she befriends Lilian, a young heiress who offers to help Patch blend in among wealthy patrons sailing to America-until the trio become embroiled in a ship-wide conspiracy. The larger-than-life setting provides ample opportunity for swashbuckling adventures whose stakes, while never too high, are always exciting. Illustrations portray the protagonists with pale skin. Ages 8-12. (July) - Copyright 2025