I do enjoy survival stories and oddly I also really enjoy books set
around swamps. Swimming against the Storm fits the bill perfectly. Grab your wet weather gear and your courage - you will need both when you enter this book!
Eliza, her sister Avery
and their mum and dad live in Coteville, Louisiana. Their backyard is the
bayou. Mum and dad make their living from shrimping. As this story opens Eliza
has turned twelve. This is the day Eliza can go shrimping. Her sister is only
ten and so she is left behind. Avery is deeply disappointed and upset.
Eliza has imagined this day for years but she is
not prepared for the reality of the by-catch. There are crabs, fish of all
sizes, plastic debris, shrimp of course and a beautiful sea turtle all caught
up in the nets. Eliza is distressed to see the turtle is hurt and while her
parents do gently put him back many of the beautiful fish are left to die on the floor of
the boat. Eliza had no idea shrimping also meant the death of so many precious sea
creatures.
The sisters have a great relationship but jealousy over the
shrimping outing is a real threat. Avery tells Eliza she and her friend Grace have found
something mysterious and interesting on a small island in the swamp. After the
disaster of the shrimping outing Eliza is keen to reconcile with her sister so
the two set off. First they travel in a small motorboat and then jump into a pair of kayaks. Avery
leads her sister across a small island to a footprint.
There is a legend in the bayou of a creature
called a Loup-garou. Have they found evidence this creature really exists?
Meanwhile an oil company are advising all residents to leave
the area and find a different place to live because the land is subsiding and
sea levels are rising. Leaving the area will mean the end for this small, close knit community.
This area is also famous for wild hurricanes. Eliza,
Avery, Grace and their friend Huy decide to investigate the mystery of the
Loup-garou. If this creature does live in their swamp then maybe they can save
their home. This is an action packed atmospheric story. You will feel the wild wind lashing
at your hair, the mosquitoes biting your exposed skin and the mud of the swamp sticking to your clothes and hair. I loved final scenes which are filled with tension as the hurricane rages and the kids race home ready to reveal the truth. The title is perfect. There is the real storm, the storm of corruption by the oil company and the storm between the two sisters which Eliza is desperate to heal.
I also very keen to read these two earlier titles by Jess Butterworth:
No comments:
Post a Comment