The Secret Deep
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
When Aster wakes alone, stranded, on a tropical island, she has no idea what has happened, why she is there, or where to find her younger sister, Poppy. The answers lie in the secretive underwater world surrounding the desert island, populated by the beautiful and the unexpected...Aster's last memories are blurred. All she can remember is being on a boat with her aunt and other members of the eco-village where she was sent to live after the death of her mother. But Sam, who once met the sisters on a plane, makes links between the mystery of their disappearance and suspicious happenings in his own life. Though Aster can't think clearly, she feels the answers to all of her questions may lie beneath the sea. But nothing can prepare her for the secrets and revelations that she will uncover in her search for her sister.In a stunning dual narrative, the truth unravels with devastating effect -- and the answer lies in the secret underwater world surrounding the desert island. The more Aster searches for Poppy, the more strange things she finds. There is a secret deep in the water. A secret with the potential to change medical history.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After their single mother dies from cancer, orphaned sisters Aster, 13, and Poppy, 11, who are multiracial (their mother was black and Korean; their father was white), are sent from England to live with their aunt Iona, a noted oncologist now living in New Zealand. To their surprise, instead of heading home, Iona takes them to her current work site, Wildhaven: a tech-free ecovillage "in the proper bush," where she's conducting "a study of healthy lifestyles" on the teenage residents, largely international students. But after the girls overhear an argument between Iona and a former employee, then experience a strange fever following a routine injection, Aster grows increasing uneasy with their situation. Before she can do anything about her worries, a snorkeling trip turns bizarre. Aster is stranded on a remote island, where she's hooked up to strange technology and desperate to find her missing sister and to figure out how her own experience plays into her aunt's secret agenda. Meanwhile, her New Zealander friend Sam, 14, embarks on his own quest to track down the missing sisters. With this atmospheric debut, Galvin skillfully captures Aster's surroundings, bringing the islands and deep waters to life while employing a fast-paced plot balanced among adventure, mystery, science fiction elements, and Aster's emotional struggle. Ages 10 14.)
