Floodland [Hardcover]

Marcus Sedgwick (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2001 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

What if the sea began to rise . . . and rise . . . until the land began to disappear? A brilliant futuristic fantasy by an acclaimed new writer.

Global warming has caused the sea to rise until cities are turning into islands and civilization is crumbling. Ten-year-old Zoe Black was left behind on Norwich by accident when her parents escaped in the last supply ship to visit the island. Zoe discovers a small rowboat and keeps it a secret until she can set out alone on the great sea to find her parents. She lands on tiny Eels Island, where she must survive in a nightmarish world run by wild children and their boy-leader, Dooby. Zoe and a boy called Munchkin escape and cross the sea to the mainland, to find not only Zoe's parents but a new family and a new world.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ten-year-old Zoe is desperate. In a not-too-distant future where the polar ice caps have melted and most of the planet's land is underwater, she is alone with one precious possession--a rowboat. With it, she can navigate the few bits of land still visible in search of her parents, from whom she was accidentally separated. That is, until she is captured on one desolate shore by a band of impoverished teenagers who call themselves the Eels. On the Eels' island, Zoe's boat is stolen and she is taken prisoner by the gang's savage young leader, Dobby. The only reasonable person left on the island is its sole adult, ironically nicknamed Mad William. Though Dobby's gang dismisses him as crazy, Zoe quickly understands that William's strange mutterings hold the secret to finding both dry land and her parents. Now all she has to do is find her boat, gather provisions, and manage to escape Dobby's grasp before the ever rising water closes over the Eels' island forever.

First-time author Marcus Sedgwick's Floodland is an inspired mix of Lord of the Flies, Survivor, and Tomb Raider, guaranteed to captivate the most reluctant teen readers with deceptively simple prose and a richly imagined plot that could very well come to pass. Sedgwick adds his own stunning, original woodcut illustrations that help communicate the dreary yet barren beauty of the watery setting. All in all, this is a brilliant debut, reminiscent of Garth Nix's Shade's Children and Adam Rapp's The Copper Elephant. (Ages 10 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

From Publishers Weekly

British illustrator Sedgwick's futuristic first novel begins with an interesting premise--that global warming has caused the seas to rise, submerging whole sections of England--but, unfortunately, the story does not fully succeed. Young Zoe, left behind when a rescue boat takes her parents from Norwich to higher ground, escapes alone in a small rowboat. She lands on the Island of Eels, where tribes struggle for precious food and water. There Zoe meets some predictable characters, such as the mad seer, William Blake; the corrupt leader, Doobie, with an Achilles heel (he can't swim); and the tough boy with a soft interior, Munchkin. Her own character is inconsistent; she is alternately spunky and wary of everyone around her, brave then easily cowered or swayed by the Eels (e.g., referring to Doobie, "She had caught herself liking him"). When Zoe and Munchkin escape to the mainland, the author abandons the initial message about the earth's fragility in favor of an upbeat and unlikely ending, as Zoe and Munchkin find evidence that the floods have abated. The final reunion scene seems more cloying than believable. Despite some page-turning chapters, Zoe and her story lack the credibility to sustain readers through the contradictory themes and sometimes unimaginative prose ("The thought of home stabbed her like a knife" or "a creeping fear began to seep into her"). Ages 8-12.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 148 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (March 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038532801X
• ISBN-13: 978-0385328012
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,328,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable "what if", May 27, 2001

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Floodland (Hardcover)

What if the polar icecaps melted? What if most of the planet were under water? No, this isn't the movie "Waterworld," it is the slightly-fantasy "Floodland," an enjoyable what-if story. Don't worry--aside from the premise there aren't many similarities to the movie, and first-time author Maurice Sedgwick does a good job.

In this new Earth, humans are learning ways to survive other than growing crops and breeding animals. The heroine is ten-year-old Zoe, accidently torn away from her missing parents. She is able to navigate with a rowboat, but is soon stranded on one of the bits of land by the Eels, a bunch of even more desperate teens who steal her boat.

Alone, she can't escape the Eels and their rotten commander alone, she does have a couple of allies. One is a nice guy named Munchkin, and another is a supposedly-insane "Mad William," who claims that he is William Blake (hey, why not?) The Eels pay little attention to William, but Zoe recognizes that William may be able to help her find her parents — and land! But not surprisingly, there is a time limit, as the water is always going higher.

This is an undeniably enjoyable book. The heroine's characterization is a bit uneven at times, though she is still a likeable and realistic young woman. I especially liked the character of William, the mad seer who sees far more clearly than Dobby or the Eels (aside from nice-guy Munchkin--nice guy, very nice guy! Very good to read about).

The writing style was a little spare for my taste, but was descriptive enough and got across the images nicely; dialogue was pretty good, with interludes of VERY good interaction between Zoe and the others, especially Mad William. The usage of William Blake (the poet, not Mad William) to illustrate points along the way was especially good.

I'm looking forward to any future books of Mr. Sedgwick's!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can she Survive???, February 13, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Floodland (Hardcover)

This is THE most thrilling book of all times!!! I love it!!! But as another reviewer put it, it is a little violent (the cassete tapes I mean) for younger listers. I'd rate it as #2 in my 'favorite books' list (the first one is Anne of Green Gables). The only problem is... he leaves you a little cliff-hanging.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Floodland, December 18, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Floodland (Hardcover)

The name of the book I'm reviewing is Floodland. The author of this book is Marcus Sedwick. It is about a girl named Zoe Black. The sea keeps rising until the city of Norwich turns into an island. The city was crumbling. Zoe gets left behind on the island when her parents go ahead to the mainland. She finds a row boat and goes out to look for her parents. She gets abducted by a warrish gang called the Eels. Zoe spends some time on the island until another gang attacks. The leader a boy named Dooby takes the boat and Zoe. Dooby gets into a fight with a kid named Spat. Then a kid named Munchkin gets in and they row off into the ocean. I would recommend this to a friend because it is a good action book.