An impactful, gripping middle grade novel in verse from acclaimed author Jamie Sumner that spans one girl’s marathon swim over twelve miles and six hours, calling her mom back home with every stroke. Six hours. One marathon swim. That’s all Tully Birch needs to get her life straightened out. With the help of her best friend, Arch, Tully braves the waters of Lake Tahoe to break the record for the youngest person ever to complete the famous “Godfather swim.” She wants to achieve something no one in the world has done, because if she does, maybe, just maybe, her mom will come back. The swim starts off well—heart steady, body loose, Arch in charge of snacks as needed. But for Tully, all that time alone with her thoughts allows memories to surface. And in the silence of deep waters, sadness can sink you. When the swim turns dangerous, Tully fights for her survival. Does she keep going and risk her own safety and Arch’s? Or does she quit to save them both, even if it means giving up hope that her mother will return?
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
Your rating:
Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for letting me read an ARC of this book through NetGalley!
Deep Water
Overall Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ .5 (3.5/5) or 7.28/10 overall
Characters - 7
I enjoyed getting to hear about the characters mostly through flashbacks, but that did hamper some of the relatability and made it harder to connect with any character besides Tully.
Atmosphere - 8
The atmosphere of this book helped to keep me intrigued and made the story less flat considering how most of the present moments took place on a lake.
Writing - 8
I was pleasantly surprised by this change of pace in Jamie Sumner's writing style. The other two books I've read by her, Roll With It and Maid for It , had quite different styles to this one, but I think the in-verse style helped to give this book the emotion necessary for the story it was telling.
Plot - 7
The plot was fairly straightforward and simplistic, but still quite emotional and interesting. It wasn't too predictable and it was easily to get invested in the plot, in my opinion.
Intrigue - 7
I was intrigued by the description and cover of this book from the start. As I stated above, I have read other Jamie Sumner books and each of them has been quite unique and had an individualized style. *Deep Water* was no different - the style thoroughly enhance my understanding and enjoyment of the book in a moving way.
Logic - 7
The characters' actions were logical given their circumstances, however some points felt a little less nuanced and it left me hoping for a bit more of an explanation than I got.
Enjoyment - 7
Overall, I found this to be a quick and entertaining read. Nothing showstopping but still quite poignant and influential. The book lived up to its premise and I will certainly look forward to reading more of Sumner's books in the future. :)
0
© 2024 Pagebound