Cruise Ship Kid: Kidnap at Sea!
🩶👵🏼🛳️🚨
by Emma Swan
★★★★★
At a glance
Things I loved:
✍🏼 Author: Emma Swan
🎨 Cover artist: Katie Saunders
📅 Release Date: 12th March 2026
📚 Book type: Illustrated chapter, 340 pages
🌟 Reader level: Growing, 7+
🚢 Unique cruise ship setting
🕵️ Fun, interactive mystery solving
😂 Hilarious similes throughout
✏️ Readers become part of story
🎨 Beautiful, characterful illustrations
📚 Perfect for shared class reads
Dive Deeper
My Thoughts...
Cruise Ship Kid: Kidnap at Sea! by Emma Swan was a recommendation from The Rebel Reading Society—and it has unexpectedly become one of my favourite reads of 2026!
Following Silver, a 10 (and ¼!) year old on a cruise ship, the story mixes mystery, humour, and adventure as a kidnap unfolds at sea. Even more excitingly, Emma Swan actually grew up on a cruise ship, which makes the setting feel extra authentic and SUPER fun.
I don’t usually pick up first-person narrations with interruptions, drawings, and annotations—but this completely changed my mind. It’s one of the most interactive books I’ve ever read, encouraging readers to flick back, read aloud in different ways, and even write their own letter. As a teacher, I loved the subtle encouragement of reading for pleasure (and the running simile theme made me laugh throughout!). The illustrations by Katie Saunders are simply perfection and add so much personality to every page.
The plot is brilliantly fun, with unforgettable characters—especially the idea of a child surrounded by a group of OAPs on a cruise! Add in ice cream afternoon teas, a mega slide, and a mystery to solve, and it’s a total winner.
🌟The text is super accessible, making it perfect as a shared bedtime read or an engaging class text across KS2. I can’t recommend it enough—and I’ll definitely be picking up the rest of the series!🌟
Blurb
Hi, I'm Silver (yes, really) and I'm back! Here are 4 more things you should know about me:
1. I still live on a cruise ship...
2. But two days ago we moved to a brand-new ship!
3. I'm now definitely a detective!
4.And I need your help investigating my second case!
Since my last diary, Mum's been promoted and we now live on a cruise ship with a mini-golf course, an ice-cream parlour and a MEGA SLIDE! And The Gang, my amazing friends who are all over 80, have come along too!
I thought my biggest challenge this cruise would be to convince Mum to buy me a phone. But now a SUPER FAMOUS INFLUENCER has been KIDNAPPED, The Gang unhelpfully keep taking over my investigations, and we still can't find her.
So, do you want to be definitely-a-detective too and help me solve the kidnap at sea?
Should I read this book?
You should read this book if you...
🚨love detective stories🚨
🛳️would love to go on a cruise!🛳️
👵🏼enjoy reading about funny old people!👵🏼
Reader level: Growing
Content: 7+
Help me to read
- Cruise Ship: A very big boat where people go on holiday and travel to different places while sleeping, eating and having fun onboard.
- OAP (Old Age Pensioner): An older person who has stopped working and gets money from the government to live on.
- Mess (on a ship): A place on a ship where the crew go to eat their meals together.
- Deck: A flat floor on a ship where people can walk, sit, or look out at the sea.
- Stage Manager: The person in charge of making sure a show runs smoothly, telling people when to go on stage and what to do.
- Influencer: Someone who posts on social media for a living
Sneak Peak
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