Review by Booklist Review
This follow-up to The Flooded Earth (2018) continues Will and Annalie's quest to find their father, Spinner, who remains in hiding from the Admiralty. Along with new friends Essie and Poe, the twins set sail, using the clues Spinner left behind to search for his old colleagues. Wherever they go, however, the Admiralty is one step ahead. When a massive storm separates the young crew, Annalie and Poe must contend with pirates, while Will and Essie are swept out to sea, left to fight for their survival. This separation allows for the characters to develop in new ways, forming fresh dynamics among them. Themes of friendship and family anchor the story as the children bond and danger increases. As in the first book, this sequel offers commentary on the refugee crisis, often using humor to alleviate the tense material, but McConnochie also delivers higher stakes, daring escapes, wild storms, and pirate battles in a second adventure sure to please young thrill-seekers.--Elizabeth Konkel Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-In this sequel, twins Annalie and Will, along with their friends Pod and Essie and talking parrot Graham, are sailing on the high seas in search of Spinner, the twins' father. On their tail is the Admiralty, who is also looking for Spinner. The children are tracking down scientists who worked with the man in the hopes that they will not only lead them to Spinner but will also provide them with information about the research he stole from the Admiralty. When a storm hits, Will and Essie become separated from the others after they are thrown overboard. Continuing on their mission while also searching for Will and Essie, Annalie and Pod find themselves on Dasto Puri, home to dangerous pirates. As the story progresses, more is revealed about the great flood. Spinner's former team continues to be split about whether to use the technology again in order to reverse the flood's effects. When the children finally catch up to Spinner, he must take leave once again. Readers will be engrossed in this action-packed adventure story and will eagerly await the next installment. VERDICT A satisfying, high-stakes sequel. Recommended for middle grade collections that own the first novel.-Marissa Lieberman, East Orange Public Library, NJ © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This equally fast-paced, action-driven sequel to The Flooded Earth (rev. 3/19), set in a post-climate-change society, begins three weeks after twins Will and Annalie, Essie, Pod, and parrot Graham escaped Little Lang Lang Islandand brings readers into the action almost immediately with a storm at sea. Will and Essie, thrown overboard from the Sunfish, are able to swim to an island. Annalie and Pod steer their battered boat toward a pirates lair in order to regroup. Eventually reunited, the protagonists set sail to more distant parts of the world, continuing to search for the twins father, Spinner, and getting into and out of danger in the process. McConnochie expands the setting of her post-Flood world, sending the characters to distant lands and introducing new cultures (Norlind was a cold country, and their specialties seemed to include animals that no one in Dux would ever have thought of eating). The book also begins to explore the scientific and ethical challenges of climate-altering technology, leaving plenty of questions to be resolved in the next volume. sarah rettger July/Aug p.132(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Will and Annalie continue the search for their dad in the middle installment of an Australian eco-thriller trilogy (The Flooded Earth, 2018).Ever since their father, Spinner, disappeared, the 12-year-old twins have been seeking him out on the ocean. Society is rebuilding since the Flood that broke the planet (not quite our world but one that's overwhelmingly familiar), but it still seems torn between the despotic Admiralty on the one side and criminal pirates and gangs on the other. Out on the Sunfish, Will and Annalie have nobody but each other and their dearest friends: rich girl Essie, undocumented former slave Pod, and Spinner's cybernetically enhanced parrot, Graham. While they quest for Spinner and his research into geo-engineering the Flood, the children avoid the wicked forces of the Admiralty and survive all manner of adventures: a storm at sea, stranding on a deserted island, capture by pirates, arrest by immigration officers, and having to eat some pretty gross bugs. The eponymous castle in the sea plays a startlingly small role but leaves unanswered questions, hopefully to be addressed in the conclusion. The perils are all excitingly perilous, but they are also relatively nonterrifying; in a dark and malicious world, the levels of danger feel more exciting than dreadful. The characters are racially ambiguous, with names and origin stories that imply some diversity of background.A post-apocalyptic disaster story with the cozy feel of Swallows and Amazons. (Science fiction. 10-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
