Skip content
Give audiobooks, support local bookstores! Start gifting
When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin
  Send as gift   Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

      Log in       Create account
Illustration of person sitting

Shop small, give big!

With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.

Start gifting
Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Nowโ€™s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, weโ€™ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Sign up today

When the Sea Turned to Silver

$26.24

Get for $14.99 with membership
Narrator Kim Mai Guest

This audiobook uses AI narration.

Weโ€™re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.

Learn more
Length 7 hours 36 minutes
Language English
  Send as gift   Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

      Log in       Create account

This breathtaking, full-color illustrated fantasy is inspired by Chinese folklore, and is a companion to the Newbery Honor winner Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

Pinmei's gentle, loving grandmother always has the most thrilling tales for her granddaughter and the other villagers. However, the peace is shattered one night when soldiers of the Emperor arrive and kidnap the storyteller.

Everyone knows that the Emperor wants something called the Luminous Stone That Lights the Night. Determined to have her grandmother returned, Pinmei embarks on a journey to find the Luminous Stone alongside her friend Yishan, a mysterious boy who seems to have his own secrets to hide. Together, the two must face obstacles usually found only in legends to find the Luminous Stone and save Pinmei's grandmother--before it's too late.

A fast-paced adventure that is extraordinarily written and beautifully illustrated, When the Sea Turned to Silver is a masterpiece companion novel to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of the Sky.

Grace Lin is the award-winning and bestselling author and illustrator of Starry River of the Sky, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Rat, Dumpling Days, and Ling & Ting, as well as pictures books such as The Ugly Vegetables and Caldecott Honor book A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Grace lives with her husband and daughter in Western MA, where they get plenty of winter snow. Her website is www.gracelin.com.

Illustration of person sitting

Shop small, give big!

With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.

Start gifting
Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Nowโ€™s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, weโ€™ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Sign up today

Reviews

*"Lin's evocative language sweeps readers away, and the stories within the story are juicy and delicious....[A] worthy companion to her Newbery Honor book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2009) and Starry River of the Sky (2012)."โ€”Booklist (starred review) "Pinmei's journey has a compelling urgency that quickens the pace and enlivens the adventure, while the short stories are smoothly integrated and provide sly, subtle connections to plot events, making satisfying the climactic scene in which the elements converge....Lin's characteristic elegant prose...keeps its enchanting, luminous quality."โ€”BCCB *"Lin's vibrant chapter decorations and full-color, full-page paintings add to the work's beauty....A stunning addition to a deservedly beloved set of novels; recommended for all middle grade collections."โ€”School Library Journal (starred review)
Praise for When the Sea Turned to Silver:

A New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Notable Children's Books of 2016
A National Book Award Finalist
An IndieBound Bestseller
NPR Best Book of the Year Pick
The Horn Book Fanfare Best Books of 2016
ALA Notable Book for Children
An Amazon Best Books of 2016 Pick
A CCBC Children's Choices Pick
A School Library Journal Best of 2016: Middle Grace Choice
A Booklist Editor's Choice 2016
B&N Kids Blog 10 Notable Middle Grade Novels of 2016
Bank Street College of Education 2017 Best Children's Book of the Year

"Grace Lin has written a middle-grade trilogy of surpassing wonder and emotional weight... Remarkable... A must-read... Full of charm and driving action... Lin has made herself immortal in this trilogy, no doubt."โ€”The New York Times Book Review *"Compelling....Lin's fans will not be disappointed: she again delivers a rich interweaving of ancient tales with fast-paced adventure, fantasy, and slowly unfolding mysteries told through captivating language."โ€”Publishers Weekly (starred review) * "The lively mixture of adventure, mystery, and fantasy, supported by compelling character development and spellbinding language, will captivate a wide swath of readers."โ€”Publishers Weekly, starred review *"The meticulous craft delivers what Lin's fans have come to expect... This beautifully told companion to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2009) and Starry River of the Sky (2012) offers lyrical storytelling, bringing 'us to places we have never dreamed of.'"โ€”Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *"On its own, this third volume contains a richly complex adventure story that revisits previous themes....The three books together, however, offer one grand epic that spans generations....Lin's stonecutter claims that storytellers 'can make time disappear...bring us to places we have never dreamed of...feel sorrow and joy and peace'; the description is a fitting one for author-illustrator Lin herself, who has proven herself a master."โ€”The Horn Book, starred review "In this captivating tale... readers will not only enjoy the 'frame' story revolving around Pinmei and Yishan, but will also like (and recognize) some of the other stories being told."โ€”School Library Connection Expand reviews