From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 7 Up–Undine isnt your ordinary teenage girl. She doesnt like Tuesdays, has a best friend named Trout, and can cause storms to form out of thin air. She comes from a tight-knit family that includes her mother, brother, and aunt. She has always been told that her father died before she was born but a mysterious whispering voice convinces her that he is still alive. Trout, thanks to his love of Shakespeare, links the words that the voice is speaking with The Tempest. After the book itself appears in her house, Undine figures out where the voice is calling from and goes to meet her father. Teens will empathize with this girl who has magical powers that she cant control and a desire for a father who loves her for herself, not the powers she possesses or what he can gain from them. The strength of Russons writing and the intensity of the story itself will draw readers to Undine, but they will also find some familiar themes, such as unrequited love, reflected in her best friend, Trout. Australia creates an interesting backdrop and readers will enjoy some of the unfamiliar slang. This novel offers readers a new and interesting magical twist as well as a surprise ending.–June H. Keuhn, Corning East High School, NY
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Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 9-12. The messages, "trickling through . . . her consciousness," start arriving when Undine is 16: "Come Home!" At the same time, she begins to feel a potent, frightening force within her, "something extra to herself." When her anger sets off a violent weather storm, her fierce, bewildering power is confirmed, and as more messages appear, she starts to link them with questions about the father she has never known. Moving between remote shores and modern cities of Tasmania, Russon's debut novel is, like Undine's magic, wild and difficult to define. There are heavy ties to Shakespeare's The Tempest, which, along with other connections, sometimes feel contrived, and Russon's ambitious questions about morality, love, and the relationships between parents and children, science and magic, occasionally overwhelm the story. Anchoring the book, though, are spot-on depictions of mundane, contemporary teen anxieties ("Am I boring?" she worries during a lapse in conversation with a sexy guy), and scenes of gripping fantasy that will utterly capture readers. An impressive debut from a writer to watch. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
