Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Deep Water by Jamie Sumner - ESSENTIAL

Deep Water by Jamie Sumner, 213 pages. Atheneum BYR (Simon), 2024. $18

Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: G (some peril)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ESSENTIAL

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

12yo Tully's life revolves around swimming. She wants to break the record for the youngest person to complete the "Godfather" swim, a 12 miles swim across Lake Tahoe. So with her best friend Arch as her support crew, she sets out early one morning without telling her father. She hopes her mother will hear of her accomplishment and it will be enough for her to want to come home. The swim starts off well. But alone with her thoughts Tully begins to think about all that she has lost recently.   One of the greatest risks in a long distant swim is allowing your thoughts to bring you down. Tully must confront her feelings about her mother leaving and keep pace in order to reach the shore before her father notices she is not at home. But when a storm rolls in, Tully has to decide if she will risk both her life and Arch's or call it quits.

A beautifully written novel in verse told through flash backs of memories alongside descriptions of the current conditions of the swim. I liked the perspective of a child struggling to cope with and understand a parent's mental health issues. Tully still loves her mother. But she is also struggling with how her mother's choices are affecting her. Fast paced. I had a hard time putting it down.

Tully and Arch present white.

A. Snow, Librarian


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