The line tender

Review by Booklist Review

Novels dealing in loss and grief often result in potent stories, not because they're serious or sad, but because if done right they dig into a character's complexities. Death alters characters' landscapes in unfathomable ways, plunging them into uncertain waters and challenging them, first to stay afloat, and then to swim with new purpose. At the start of Allen's probing debut, Lucy and her father have carved out an imperfect but happy life together after the death of Lucy's mother, Helen, five years earlier. Lucy spends most of her time with her best friend and neighbor, Fred, and their summer has been largely devoted to a school project: creating a field guide to Cape Ann, their coastal New England town. Together, they make up the perfect team: science-minded Fred supplies the guide's facts and data, and Lucy uses her artistic talents to illustrate each specimen.When Sookie, a family friend and fisherman, catches a great white, the two kids race to the harbor to get a close look at the shark in order to add it to their guide. Its presence stirs up reporters, as well as Lucy's interest in her mom's work, which was devoted to studying sharks. An unpublished proposal by Helen to study great-white populations in New England captures Fred and Lucy's attention and takes on a greater significance for Lucy after a tragic swimming accident claims Fred's life. In her efforts to cope, Lucy begins writing Fred postcards since they can no longer talk. She also immerses herself in understanding Helen's proposal and perfecting her shark drawings, wanting to figure out what had utterly captivated her mom and Fred about the great whites the spike in sightings that summer only spurring her on. Because, to Lucy, making sense of this thing will mean making sense of her world and two people she loves who are no longer in it.While Allen packs a lot into this story, it never feels overstuffed. Its pieces have purpose, and just as many speak to the average tween experience getting your period, the confusion of first crushes as they do to navigating grief and the panic absence can bring. The latter two points put an interesting number of responses on display outside of Lucy's experiences, underscoring how the deaths of Helen and Fred impact many characters, including Lucy's dad, who she comes to understand is still struggling with both. Lucy's efforts to get to the bottom of the study inadvertently help several others reconnect with important parts of their lives and take steps toward healing. Likewise, something in Lucy clicks when her teacher looks at hers and Fred's field guide and observes, But artists and scientists aren't really that different, you know. They both want to figure out how things work. This idea helps Lucy trace lines between herself and those she lost, like the observant line tender on a search-and-rescue team, and see the parts of them in herself.At times Lucy has more perspective than is believable in a 12-year-old, but this helps keep grief from utterly overwhelming the plot and its characters. Lucy not only gets the chance to get mad and upset and confused about things in her life; she expresses these feelings to others, including her father and a school counselor something that is still not seen regularly in middle-grade novels. Perhaps there is an idealistic element to these scenes, but there is far more truth to them, and when taken together they will reassure readers that such bewildering emotions are okay and conquerable. Lucy's shark sketches swim throughout the book, just as they do in her field guide and her mind, and it's only when she internalizes her mother's reminder that, as frightening as sharks can be, their threat is diminished when they're treated with respect, that Lucy begins to tame the fearful elements in her life and find sure footing once more.--Julia Smith Copyright 2019 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

---

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In Rockport, Mass., budding artist and narrator Lucy, 12, does everything with her best friend Fred, a keen scientist, including writing an extra credit field guide to local wildlife (he researches, she illustrates). When family friend and fisherman Sookie accidentally catches a great white shark, TV stations broadcast old footage of Lucy's marine biologist mother, a shark expert who died suddenly when Lucy was seven, dredging up old feelings for the girl. Romantic tension begins to crackle between Lucy and Fred, but a tragic swimming accident at the local quarry plunges the entire town into grief, and Lucy and her depressed detective father must recover once again. Firmly rooted with a strong sense of place and sketched with powerful sensory details, the narrative offers a colorful multigenerational cast that comes together to help Lucy learn more about her mother's work and begin to heal her own heart. Allen tackles the complexities of grief with subtly wry humor and insight in this richly layered middle grade debut about the power of science and love. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

---

Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 5--8--Lucy Everhart is the daughter of a rescue-diver father; her marine biologist mother died suddenly when Lucy was only seven. She is spending the summer before eighth grade with her best friend, Fred, when locals and experts alike are shocked by a dead Great White shark washing up in their small coastal town of Rockport, MA. But excitement turns to grief when tragedy strikes for Lucy again and she is left to deal with her father's worsening depression and the mystery of her mother's unfinished research into the migration of the Great Whites to Cape Cod. Though the novel is not without its narrative issues, Allen does skillful work in portraying nuanced emotions in children and adults experiencing loss. She paints the plethora of secondary adult characters with impressive detail. Unfortunately, this audio recording has a few notable flaws--namely, the narrator's youthful voice for an almost 13-year-old protagonist and her overkill in giving thick coastal Massachusetts accents to adult characters--that have the potential to negatively affect the listener's experience. Audio-only readers will also miss out on artist Xingye Jin's striking illustrations that begin each chapter. VERDICT A supplemental purchase in a collection where readers need or prefer the audio format.--Ann Santori, Cook Memorial Public Library, Libertyville, IL

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

---

Review by Horn Book Review

Lucys mother died researching sharks when Lucy was young. Now she and her dad get by just fine on their own, especially with the constant presence of Lucys neighbor and best friend, Fred. Lucy and Fred are interested in the great white sharks that have been showing up in the waters near their Rockport, Massachusetts, home. In the midst of their summer project studying the sharks, Fred dies in a tragic accident. In her grief, Lucy turns to her mothers research and, following the clues found in her unfinished work, finds a way to strengthen the remembered connections among her mother, Fred, and the people still present in Lucys life. The title refers to the member of a diving team who keeps track of the line that tethers the diver to the surface. Over the course of the book, Lucy comes to realize that she herself is (metaphorically) such a person, using her artistic abilities and her astute observations to preserve what binds her to her loved ones. While the plot lacks narrative urgency, the fluid writing adds depth to the various characters emotional journeys. Secondary characters, including Freds mother and sisters, are drawn just as meticulously as the major players, with authentic New Englander details that bring them to life. sarah berman March/April 2019 p 74(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

Lucy finds solace in her late mother's passion for shark biology during a summer that brings a new grief.First-person narrator Lucy and neighbor Fred are compiling a field guide to animals they find near their Rockport, Massachusetts, home. Lucy is the artist, Fred the scientist, and their lifelong friendship is only just hinting that it could become something more. Lucy's mother, who died of a brain aneurysm when Lucy was 7, five years earlier in 1991, was a recognized shark biologist; her father is a police diver. When a great white is snagged by a local fishermana family friendvideo footage of an interview with Lucy's mother surfaces on the news, and Lucy longs to know more. But then another loved one dies, drowned in a quarry accident, and it is Lucy's father who recovers the bodyin their small community it seems everyone is grappling with the pain. Lucy's persistence in learning about the anatomy of sharks in order to draw them is a kind of homage to those she's lost. Most of the characters are white; a marine scientist woman of color and protge of Lucy's mother plays a key role. Allen offers, through Lucy's voice, a look at the intersection of art, science, friendship, and love in a way that is impressively nuanced and realistic while offering the reassurance of connection. Rich, complex, and confidently voiced. (Historical fiction. 11-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

---

Chapter 4. Empty House Dad spent more time underwater than he spent on land. He was a scuba diver, both professionally and recreationally. If he wasn't hauling people out of the water (dead or alive) with the rest of the Salem Police dive team, he was hunting our lobster dinner off the coastline near our house. It was typical for Dad to receive a call from the dive team outside his regular hours at the police station. Salem Police divers did double duty, working regular shifts as uniformed police officers or detectives, but also responding to emergency situations. It seemed like there had been more calls than usual that summer--people driving off bridges or swimming in dangerous waters. I didn't like it when he was gone. When he was at the bottom of some harbor, the house felt empty. But he was always moving like a shark, swimming in order to breathe. That night, I learned later, some moron had driven his truck into Salem Harbor and that Dad was called to the accident scene to help fish him out. There was a mostly thawed block of chicken on the countertop that Dad might have cooked had he stayed home that evening. I didn't know the first thing about transforming raw meat into dinner, so I sat at the kitchen table and leaned over a copy of the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook. Some of the recipes had my mom's notes in the margin. It was always strange to see her handwriting, to see something that was so distinctly hers and that was still here. "Check at twenty-five minutes!" she wrote. "Can substitute with olive oil," in another place. She had been gone five years. Most of the time, Dad and I were okay without Mom, even though I still thought about her every day. But my grief for her was like a circle. I always came around to missing her again. It could be a birthday that triggered the new cycle or something more unexpected, like finding something in a drawer that belonged to her. I started reading the recipe names in a whisper. "This one sounds simple. 'Whole Chicken Baked in Salt. Lemon and ginger cooked in the cavity perfumes the bird.'" But the recipe called for four pounds of Kosher salt. Four pounds. I wondered how a chicken cooked in four pounds of salt was still edible. When I reached the part where the chicken cooks for two hours in a wok, I closed the book. We didn't have a wok. Or four pounds of salt. I opened the fridge. The combination of old food and nothing made me lonely. I pulled out the garbage can from under the sink and started pitching--lettuce, both rusted and soggy; fourteen-day-old moo shu pork that looked deceptively edible; and peaches with skin like a mummy's. There was half a Corningware dish of lasagna from last weekend. I imagined bacterial colonies beginning to creep up, so I used a knife to wiggle it out of the pan and let it flop into the garbage, which had just about reached its limit. I wiped the shelves with a wet rag. Now we were left with nothing--a half gallon of milk, a pitcher of Tang, some onions, and a door full of stuff in jars. I poured a glass of the orange drink, grabbed a short stack of stale saltines from the pantry, and walked into the den. I gotta learn how to cook . Through the open window I could hear the leaves rustling in frequent swirls of wind and Mr. Patterson listening to dueling radios on his porch--the Red Sox on WEEI and a police scanner. It was an odd and familiar sound--Joe Castiglione's voice and the crack of the bat, layered with occasional farty blips and cryptic messages between cops and dispatchers. I didn't hear anything from the dive team. Eventually I walked over to the TV and flipped it on, taking a leisurely stroll through the channels on my way to the Sox game. And there was Sookie on Channel 7, wearing his mirrored sunglasses and speaking into the reporter's microphone. I never saw people I knew on TV. I picked up the phone. "Turn on Channel Seven. Sookie's on TV." "Okay," Fred said. I could see the wharf and the harbor behind Sookie. "Holy crap, it's T Wharf." "I'm getting there, I'm getting there," he said. The camera panned to show the shark's body in the near distance, hanging awkwardly from the winch. The shark would have looked powerful swimming in the ocean, but it seemed freakish hanging in a loop on the dock, bunched up in some places and stretched out in others. The reporter asked Sookie if he had ever seen a great white in all of his years of fishing off the Massachusetts coast, and Sookie said, "Nope. Only in the movies." "There we are!" Fred yelled. "Over by the garbage cans." I didn't like seeing myself on TV. I looked way too tall, especially standing next to Fred. The reporter looked into the camera and launched into a brief history of great white sharks in the North Atlantic. Fred was getting agitated. I could hear him breathing into the receiver. "That's wrong ," he said. "They can swim in subarctic water." Then the news story cut to a section of old footage. And there she was. Talking to the camera while sitting on a boat, her hair blowing around, her face with freckles like mine. "Lucy. That's your mom," Fred said. "I know," I said. Somewhere off camera, a man asked her a question. "Am I afraid? Being in the water with sharks?" She grinned. "No. You just have to remember that you are swimming in their home. You have to know how to behave when you are the guest." "Seriously," Fred said. "What would you like people to know about sharks?" asked the man off camera. She looked up at the sky for a moment. "I guess that there is so much we don't know about them--where they go, or how many there are. And we fear what we don't know. If we knew more about sharks, maybe we would be in a better position to help ensure their survival." The boat kept rocking and my mother smiled at the camera. It was as though she were smiling at me. At me. I looked right into her eyes and it was like we were staring at each other. The fine lines around the outer corners of her eyes deepened as her smile grew. I shuddered. The phone slid from under my chin and hit the floor. I didn't take my eyes off her. She sighed and kept looking at me. Then, too abruptly, the clip ended and we were suddenly back on T Wharf with Sookie and the newscaster. It took me a minute to realize that I had been talking to Fred. I wiped my face, bent down, and picked up the receiver. "Lucy?" said Fred. "Fred, what was that?" I asked, sniffling. "It was a clip from an interview with your mom." "No, I know that. But where did it come from?" "I don't know. Ask your dad." "He's not here." "Are you okay?" "Not really." "Want me to come over?" he said. "I don't know," I said. "I'll call you back." The circle had begun again. Excerpted from The Line Tender by Kate Allen All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

---