| Publisher | Speak |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 07 April 2015 |
| ISBN-10 | 0142426741 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0142426746 |
| Format | paperback |
| Pages | 464 |
| Price | £ 6.60 |
The Edge of the Water
by
A marine biologist comes to the remote Whitbey Island to investigate a black seal known as Nera, which returns to the island at the same time each year. A mysterious mute girl is found wandering on the island and none of the locals want anyone to go near the seal.
Review
Very little happens on Whitbey Island, off the coast of Washington State, so the annual return of an unusual coal-black seal known as Nera is the perfect excuse for a celebration. Marine biologist Annie Taylor comes to the island to investigate the mystery of the seal, and recruits 15-year-old Jenn McDaniels to help her. But some of the locals are determined that no one should get near to Nera and are prepared to go to extreme lengths to protect her.
Is the seal related to an oil spill 20 years ago, or to the sinking of a fishing boat? Is she responsible for breaking the arm of someone who got too close or was that done by a human?
Meanwhile, Cilla, a girl who can hear and follow simple instructions, but not speak, is wandering the island alone. When she is found injured and starving, can she be the key that unlocks the mystery?
The story is aimed squarely at the teenage/young adult market, and is told from the point of view of the teenage characters: Jenn, a bright girl from a poor family who is determined to gain a soccer scholarship to get off the island, Becca, able to hear fragments of thoughts from other people and living alone to escape her murderous stepfather, and Derric, an orphan adopted from Uganda, keeping the secret of the sister he left behind. They are all 15 or 16 and at the age of wanting to experiment with sex and relationships, so this is perhaps not a book for the youngest teenagers.
Becca’s telepathic abilities hint at the mythological aspects of this book. I had no problem with suspension of disbelief over her abilities, but it was much harder to swallow the repeated assertion that seals shed their skins. While I could see that it facilitated an aspect of the plot, in fact it was not essential and the most rudimentary knowledge of mammalian biology would show it to be impossible.
That one niggle aside, this was a well-written book that held my attention even though I am well beyond my teenage years! As an episode in Becca’s story, it stands as a whole in its own right, to the extent that, had the sleeve notes not concentrated on Becca as the lead character, I would not have focussed on her any more than on Jenn or Derric. The series is definitely worth a read.
Is the seal related to an oil spill 20 years ago, or to the sinking of a fishing boat? Is she responsible for breaking the arm of someone who got too close or was that done by a human?
Meanwhile, Cilla, a girl who can hear and follow simple instructions, but not speak, is wandering the island alone. When she is found injured and starving, can she be the key that unlocks the mystery?
The story is aimed squarely at the teenage/young adult market, and is told from the point of view of the teenage characters: Jenn, a bright girl from a poor family who is determined to gain a soccer scholarship to get off the island, Becca, able to hear fragments of thoughts from other people and living alone to escape her murderous stepfather, and Derric, an orphan adopted from Uganda, keeping the secret of the sister he left behind. They are all 15 or 16 and at the age of wanting to experiment with sex and relationships, so this is perhaps not a book for the youngest teenagers.
Becca’s telepathic abilities hint at the mythological aspects of this book. I had no problem with suspension of disbelief over her abilities, but it was much harder to swallow the repeated assertion that seals shed their skins. While I could see that it facilitated an aspect of the plot, in fact it was not essential and the most rudimentary knowledge of mammalian biology would show it to be impossible.
That one niggle aside, this was a well-written book that held my attention even though I am well beyond my teenage years! As an episode in Becca’s story, it stands as a whole in its own right, to the extent that, had the sleeve notes not concentrated on Becca as the lead character, I would not have focussed on her any more than on Jenn or Derric. The series is definitely worth a read.
Reviewed 23 May 2015 by Sylvia Wilson
