I picked the book City of Islands completely based off the cover of the book. Sometimes I like to pick out my next book by going to the library and looking at the covers in my favorite genre. I think it's kind of fun that way!
City of Islands is not written for someone my age. I would say it's more of the 3rd to 6th grade age group. I like to try out books for my kids, and lets face it, I love reading any type of genre. When I came home from the library, my 9 year old took the book and read it first. His review was that it kept him entertained, he liked the main character, some twists surprised him, and over all it was a good book.
The main character, Mara is a servant of the Lady of the Tides who is in charge of all of Tidewater Island. Their world is made up of many islands (and there's a convenient map at the beginning of the book) all of which were created by the founders, magical creatures who live underwater and who have not been seen for centuries. Mages rule the islands. They can sing magical songs to make things such as the weather, water, and bones do their bidding. Mara knows a song her mother sang to her when she was a girl and as she sings the song more and more, strange and magical things start to happen. She is a diver for The Lady of the Tides and while diving one day, she makes a discovery that will send her on a magical and self finding adventure.
I truly enjoyed this book. I think it's appropriate for the age group it represents and will entertain the reader from start to finish.