In the companion to A Crack in the Sea (2017), Bouwman offers stories of loss, hope, perseverance, and the repercussions of severed platonic and familial bonds.In the book's present day of 1949 in the "second world," 12-year-old Putnam, son of the king of Raftworld, is impatient with his father's refusal to take action to correct the mysterious salinization of their water, so he leaves home to do it himself. Meanwhile, Islander Artie, also 12, flees an abusive home that's become even worse since her mother's death. They do not intend to journey together, but a twist of fate finds them both stealing the same boat. In a separate storyline, a century earlier, 14-year-old Rayel, daughter of the then-king of Raftworld, runs away to escape an arranged marriage. These flights lead to unexpected happenings: Putnam and Artie's friendship and Rayel's discovery of magic within herself and unlikely friends. They also bring great trials, from physical privation to the looming feelings that nefarious presences watch and follow. Though their voyages begin at different times, all three unknowingly take the same route toward the cold southern part of their world and are eventually connected, leading to truths and revelations. Bouwman masterfully infuses old fairy tales and legends into her alternate-universe adventure, meticulously weaving times and storylines into a riveting plot. All three protagonists have brown skin. Shimizu's energetic black-and-white illustrations add visual drama.A novel that will have readers reflecting on their own experiences of grief, longing, regret, survival, and overcoming. (Fantasy. 10-14)
COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (Online Review)
March 1, 2019
In this companion to A Crack in the Sea (rev. 5/17), the second world (the watery place inhabited only by Islanders and the people of Raftworld?an engineered collection of rafts that travels from island to island) is in trouble. Its previously potable seawater has turned salty and undrinkable, putting its inhabitants' lives in peril. Fed up with the inaction of his elders, twelve-year-old Raftworlder Putnam steals a boat in order to journey to the far south, hoping to solve the problem. Having fallen asleep in that same boat after fleeing her abusive stepfather, gruff twelve-year-old Islander Artie finds herself at sea with Putnam, and grudgingly joins his quest. This story arc (set in the present: 1949 ) alternates with a second story arc set a century earlier: that of Princess Rayel, who, in order to avoid an unwanted arranged marriage, also takes a journey south. Bouwman elegantly twists and twirls the two narrations, finally bringing them together in the icy reaches of the southernmost point of the second world. The three young people are each grappling with complicated emotional issues. An intentional folkloric sensibility is palpable throughout as they encounter fantastical beings and places along their journeys, shown in Shimizu's occasional, dramatic black-and-white illustrations. This is an engaging and original coming-of-age story with an unpredictable and adventurous plot, sure to captivate middle-grade and middle-school fantasy buffs. monica edinger
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
July 1, 2019
In this companion to A Crack in the Sea, Bouwman elegantly twists and twirls two narrations: Raftworlder Putnam and Islander Artie's quest at sea in "the present: 1949," and Princess Rayel's journey a century earlier. An intentional folkloric sensibility is palpable as they encounter fantastical beings and places in the "second world," shown in Shimizu's occasional, dramatic black-and-white illustrations. An engaging, original coming-of-age story with an unpredictable, adventurous plot.
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)