Water, Water by Cary Fagan illustrated by Jon McNaught

Overnight something catastrophic has happened to the world. Rafe finds himself alone in his room with just his dog. His room has somehow become detached from his house. The room is floating on an endless ocean. His parents and whole neighborhood are gone. From the other things he finds floating on this endless sea it seems everything in the world has been destroyed. 

Luckily Rafe is a resourceful kid and luckily his room has some useful things and even luckier on the water there is debris which he can use including cans of food. Then a girl washes up next to his floating room - she is on an air mattress with her cat. She does not speak English but Rafe helps her to climb into his floating room and the pair quickly establish a wonderful friendship.

The chapter headings reflect the problems Rafe has to solve. For example 50.RD is a box he pulls out of the water which contains fifty plastic ducks - can you think of a way he might use these? Stovepipe Hat is the chapter where the kids meet some pirates. It's a thrilling scene when they manage to escape. One of the things Rafe has in his room is his homework from school. He has been assigned a novel to read and his book report is due but he has not even opened his book. With all this time to fill he starts to read and the story, as with all good stories, totally transports him away from his current difficult and uncertain situation. This book also becomes important at the end of the story - this discovery will make you smile. 

You can see I have given this book five stars. This is a book that you should add to your school library and it would also be a terrific family read aloud. This book has 150 pages and 17 short chapters so it is a very quick book to read (and enjoy).

This apocalyptic Robinsonade makes unusual middle grade fare. Each episodic chapter addresses a new problem to be solved—finding food, surviving a storm, evading pirates—and, for the most part, the challenges are all handled in short order. Fagan never addresses why this flood has occurred (tsunami? rising sea levels? climate change?), if its effects are global or localized, or probes any sadness on Rafe’s part now that he is an orphan. In fact, many younger readers may read this as simply a grand fantasy adventure tale. ...  Water, Water is an accessible adventure that may spark deeper discussions. Canadian Review of Materials

Publisher blurb: One morning Rafe wakes up to discover his bedroom is floating in a vast sea of water. Alone with only his dog for company, Rafe adapts to this strange new world by fishing cans of food out of the water and keeping watch. Boxes float by, as does a woman, playing her cello. Then, one day, Rafe fishes out a young girl, who joins him in his room — they don't speak the same language, but they will face this uncertain future together.

This book is a splendid new discovery by Canadian author Cary Fagan. I previously loved The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster. In 2022 I said it was my book of the year! I am not sure how I discovered Water, Water but I think it might have been when I was perusing the Tundra book publisher catalogue. The paperback edition [9780735270053] of Water, Water was published in 2024. I absolutely adore the cover and the internal illustrations are also terrific and mirror the cover in their use of aqua blue, black and white. Jon McNaught lives in Edinburgh. 

Cary Fagan (born 1957) is a Canadian writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. Here is partial list of his books:

• Gogol's Coat (Tundra Books, 1999), illustrated by Regolo Ricci, 
• The Market Wedding (Tundra, 2000), illus. Regolo Ricci
• Daughter of the Great Zandini (Tundra, 2001), illus. Cybèle Young
• The Fortress of Kaspar Snit (Tundra, 2004), novel
• Ten Old Men and a Mouse (Tundra, 2007), illus. Gary Clement
• My New Shirt (Tundra, 2007), illus. Dušan Petričić
• Directed by Kaspar Snit (Tundra, 2007), sequel novel
• Mr. Karp's Last Glass (Tundra, 2007), illus. Selçuk Demirel
• Ten Lessons for Kaspar Snit (Tundra, 2008), sequel novel
• Thing-Thing (Tundra, 2008), illus. Nicolas Debon
• Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas (Tundra, 2009), illus. Dušan Petričić
• Book of Big Brothers (Groundwood Books, 2010), illus. Luc Melanson
• The Big Swim (Groundwood, 2010), novel
• Banjo of Destiny (Groundwood, 2011), illus. Selçuk Demirel
• Ella May and the Wishing Stone (Tundra, 2011), illus. Geneviève Côté
• Mr. Zinger's Hat (Tundra, 2012), illus. Dušan Petričić
• The Boy in the Box (Penguin Canada, 2012), novel; Master Melville's Medicine Show, book 1
• Danny, Who Fell in a Hole (Groundwood, 2013), illus. Milan Pavlovic
• Oy, Feh, So (Groundwood, 2013), illus. Gary Clement
• Little Blue Chair (Tundra, 2017), illus. Madelie Kloepper
• A Cage Went in Search of a Bird (Groundwood, 2017), illus. Banafsheh Erfanian
• Wolfie & Fly (Tundra, 2017), illus. Zoe Si
• Mort Ziff is Not Dead (Penguin Canada)
• What Are You Doing, Benny? (Tundra, 2019), illus. Kady MacDonald Denton
• The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster (Tundra, 2019)
• King Mouse (Tundra, 2019), illus. Dena Seiferling
• Mr. Tempkin Climbs a Tree (Kar-Ben Publishing, 2019), illus. Carles Arbat
• Son of Happy (Groundwood, 2020), illus. Milan Pavlović
• Bear Wants to Sing (Tundra, 2021), illus. Dena Seiferling
• Water, Water (Tundra, 2022)
• Boney (Groundwood, 2022)
• Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door (Tundra, 2023)

If you enjoy Water, Water and want another dystopian story involving a flood and survival look for this book:

Across the Risen Sea

The final scene in Water, Water reminded me of this amazing picture book for older readers:

As Time went by

You might also look for this verse novel if you like survival stories:

Alone