Summer was supposed to be Ginika’s time for fun, friends and fairs. But instead she’s been sent to live at the dead-end seaside boarding house her grandparents run. Even though her parents say it’s just for a little while, she can’t help feeling abandoned and heartbroken to be missing out on everything she loves back home.
And then she meets Peri. He leaps and dives through the water like a dolphin and he talks like a burst of bubbles. He’s not exactly a mermaid, but he’s definitely something Ginika’s never seen before.
His family is far away too, but unlike Ginika, he loves his independence. As Ginika shows Peri her world, she starts to feel free as well. They don’t need anyone else when they’ve got each other. But then the lights and noise of the human world start to change Peri. And when things spin out of control, Ginika must be the bravest she’s ever been to face her fears and make the hardest decision of her life.
Join Ginika and Peri as they dive beneath the waves and walk the lands that will take them into each other’s worlds on an adventure they will never forget and a life-changing friendship.
Clare Weze
Clare Weze’s first middle grade novel, The Lightning Catcher, was absolutely brilliant. I asked her a few questions about her debut at the time, so when I was sent a copy of her second with the option of sharing something on the blog I thought it would be great to have an extract of chapter 1 for you all:
Hopefully that gave you an inkling of how beautifully written and intriguing the book is. I love how Clare takes a completely impossible idea – people living in the sea – and uses real science to make it seem a possibility. In this respect it is similar to her first book, The Lightning Catcher, but beyond that it couldn’t be more different. Ginika’s is a great main character: worried about her parents and knowing that they’re keeping a secret but distracted by a new worry: her new friend Peri and his needs. Other characters coming into the story and the resolution all flowed really well, a real page turner with a satisfying ending.
The Storm Swimmer is published on 19th January by Bloomsbury Books
