The Big One

A new nonfiction narrative, a gorgeous cover, a swim in the sea, and an interview with Eugene Yelchin

Dear Friends,

I’m thrilled to be able to share three exciting pieces of book news.

1. Cover Reveal: The Big One

Behold the cover for my upcoming picture book, The Big One, gorgeously illustrated by Myo Kim. Releasing on June 30, 2026, this is another nautical adventure for fans of The Antlered Ship and The Sea Serpent and Me. It tells the story of a little girl and her Nana who head to sea in pursuit of very big fish and encounter something much, much bigger.

Marina was the smallest of the town’s children.
Nana was the oldest of the town’s elders.
But even the old and the small have dreams.

When word spreads around their small fishing town that the Big One is close to shore, Marina and Nana know that they will be the ones to catch the elusive and legendary fish. “When we catch the Big One,” says Nana, “we’ll need four hands to haul him in and two mouths to tell the story.”

They set out in a tiny boat with only grit, gumption, and a rose-ripe peach for bait. But the Big One doesn’t appear that day. Or the day after that. Each time, Marina listens carefully for the swish of the Big One’s tail, but each time there’s nary a nibble on their peach. Nana is certain they’ll catch him, but Marina isn’t so sure anymore. Then one morning, when the mist is so thick they can’t see a thing, something giant nudges the boat. What they find is something much bigger – and astounding – than they could have ever imagined.

You can pre-order it here.

2. A New Non-Fiction Narrative—For Kids!

Next year is a big year for me, with four books hitting the stores. I’ve already told you about two others: Good Night, Escargot, the fifth in the Escargot series, and Deep Blue, the second book featuring Kayla, whom you first met in Wild Blue. Now I can finally reveal the project that I’ve been working on for the past year: a new non-fiction narrative for middle grade readers called Wild Season: The True Story of a Remarkable Rabbit Rescue.

Here’s the announcement:

Wild Season is an urban outdoor adventure featuring a remarkable cast of characters, some of whom are rabbits. As I was reporting it, I felt like I’d stumbled into one of the stories I liked best as a kid, in which an everyday place—in this case a neighborhood park—is revealed to be a portal to a magical world. The book features a group of intrepid kids with an honest-to-God secret hideout, a tough-talking, soft-hearted professional rabbit rescuer named Jessica (really!), a teenage girl with preternatural animal-whispering abilities, and a 77-year old dog walker who manages to get her entire neighborhood to care about rabbits. I cannot wait for you to read it.It’ll be out in September, and I’ll have lots more to say about it between now and then.

3. Deep Blue Gets Its First Rave Review

Kirkus is famously unimpressed by almost everything, so it’s always exciting when they like a book. And—phew!—they loved Deep Blue. Here’s some of what they said:

Following the same family from their previous work, Wild Blue (2023), Slater and Hughes have crafted another lovely look at the unease of trying something unfamiliar—and the joys of finally triumphing. Slater’s lyrical, first-person text centers Kayla’s emotions and sensory experiences (“the deep blue sea touches my toes with frothy fingers”), while Hughes’ expressive acrylic ink illustrations capture the unpredictability of both childhood emotions and of ocean waters with their crashing waves, as well as the gentle stillness that pervades the tale as Kayla enjoys an undersea dive.

4. An Interview with Eugene Yelchin

If you were unable to attend the event with me and Eugene Yelchin at the University of San Francisco last month, don’t despair: the interview appears this week in my other newsletter, A Sigh of Relief. If you’re not already a fan of Yelchin’s complex and beautiful work, this interview will send you running to order his gripping graphic memoir, I Wish I Didn’t Have To Tell You This.

Here’s a quote from the interview:

The main challenge of writing for children, specifically for the American children, is the world in which they live. They are exposed to the culture, which is loud, invasive, consumerist, and confusing — when constantly told whom they are supposed to be, they forget who they are. Because of their age, our readers’ identities are not fully formed, and they are in danger of taking on false, manufactured personas. And so, I think that the job of writing for children is providing a safe, quiet space in which our readers can reconnect with their authentic selves. The space in which they can hear the flow of their thoughts, hear their heartbeat. And the only way we can do that, in my opinion, is by writing works in which they can see themselves, recognize who they are and who they are not.

Read the rest of this fascinating conversation to hear more of Yelchin’s brilliant observations about making art under autocracy, the craft of writing for children, and the nature of truth. Not a subscriber? Fear not, you can sign up here.

I bow to you,

Dashka