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  YOU ARE HERE : Home > Categories > Books > Young Adult > Swimming Against the Storm
  ProdID: 8222 - Swimming Against the StormWritten by:Jess Butterworth Product Score: 9.8 
Swimming Against the Storm

Price : $19.99
Supplier :
Available : April 2019

Our land is sinking. It's disappearing into the water. And no one knows how to save it. Twelve-year-old Eliza and her sister Avery have lived their entire lives in a small fishing village on the coast of Louisiana, growing up alongside turtles, pelicans and porpoises. But now, with sea levels rising, their home is at risk of being swept away.

Determined to save the land, Eliza and her younger sister Avery secretly go searching in the swamp for the dangerous, wolf-like loup-garou. If they can prove this legendary creature exists, they're sure that the government will have to protect its habitat - and their community. But there's one problem: the loup-garou has never been seen before. And with a tropical storm approaching and the sisters deep, deep in the swampland, soon it's not just their home at risk, but their lives as well...

Heartland middle-grade adventure set in the swamps of Louisiana, perfect for fans of Katherine Rundell and Lauren St John.
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mizim   Review #20495 - Dated: 17th of March, 2019
  Author: mizim

Young Eliza has just turned twelve years old, something that finally creates a little tension between herself as she sets off on the family boat. It is here that Eliza realizes that her dreams for the future will need to change, but it is also the start of the adventure that she, her sister Avery and their two friends Grace and Huy. They set out to find a mythical creature, the Loup-Garou and instead get caught in a storm. The book takes place in Louisiana, where the seas are reclaiming the land, you can tell that the author actually spoke to people in the field, which makes it feel far more authentic.

The imagery of the swamps created in this book are gorgeous, it's easy to picture how it all looks, at the same time she does a great job at noticing the small things which add an element of danger to the swamps, so even when all is calm it still doesn't feel quite safe. The book is really well placed, it all takes place over just one day but at no point did it feel rushed or pushed to get to the ending quicker than necessary. Eliza is a typical kid, she isn't over the top and has just the right amount of spunk and bravery one might expect from a child trying to fix things while danger is all around.

There are really only three adults in the book that get any page time but the kids are the center and they do shine, they're just typical kids and the feel real and are just trying to mend what has gone wrong. I went into this book expecting one kind of story, one that brought a mythical creature into the world, whilst this expectation wasn't met I still enjoyed the book and finished it in one sitting and I find myself thinking that I could happily read it again (after I've passed this on to my mother to read). Settle down with a hot cup of tea, snuggle up and go on an adventure into the swaps of Louisiana.

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Printed at 12:37:51pm on Friday 26th April 2024