Ping!

The Line Tender by Kate Allen 

But you know when you go to a bookstore and one book stands out from all of the others?
​And when you read it, you feel like it picked you?

The Line Tender is a book of many things: A moving recital of the stages of grief. Fascinating glimpse into the world of sharks and marine ecosystems.  ​Description of a friendship which may be something more. Above all, it's story of a girl who discovers a part of herself that she never expected to find.

Lucy Everhart lives in a small town on the Massachusetts Coast. Her father is a member of the Salem Police dive team. Her mother, a marine biologist with a special interest in sharks died five years ago of a brain aneurysm. Lucy and her next-door neighbor Fred are inseparable companions. Recently they undertook a monumental summer project: creating a field guide to document Rockport animals. Fred, the detail-oriented science nerd writes the copy. Lucy illustrates.

 Without warning, Fred dies in a tragic drowning accident.

Lucy’s narrative is raw, painful, and honest.  Her struggles to make sense of the deaths of her friend and her mother are revealed in simple details. Her voice is one of wonder, hope and small moments of joy.

Most chapters are brief, each capturing a tender vignette.  This construct works to the reader's advantage, as emotions often require time for inner reflection and processing before moving on with the story.

Allen brilliantly weaves multiple thematic threads in this novel. Lines is one of the overarching motifs embedded throughout the narrative. A line tender holds a line that sinks deep into unknown waters, supporting the rescue diver. At the scene of the accident, Lucy imagines a string, wrapped around her hand and stretching out to encircle Fred's wrist. Her father develops his summer photographs and arranges the pictures chronologically on the darkroom's  clothesline. Lucy discovers a recorded interview with her mother, who speaks of generational lines that connect a mother and daughter. 

​Some lines don't break.

A word about the illustrations. Xingye Jin created the cover and interior art. Line drawings of various sharks introduce each chapter. The realistic images are evocative and elegant. They complement Lucy's efforts to authentically sketch a shark for the field guide.

l loved this book with a quiet intensity. Read and reread. Listened to the audio edition. Wasn't quite sure why this gentle narrative affected me so deeply. Maybe Fred has the answer. It's a book that picked me.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: April 16, 2019  Publisher: Dutton for Young Readers  ISBN: 978-0735231603