Caught in the Undertow

What are you supposed to do when your 13 year old daughter begs you to read a book because she loooved it and she desperately wants to talk with you about it? Like any attentive mother who is eager to bond with her teen, I checked out Michael Buckley's first novel for teens, Undertow. Now, I realize that it was all a nefarious scheme on her part to make me share in her misery. Now we both have to wait MONTHS for the second book to come out. By then I will have to reread the first book and after finishing Raging Sea it will probably take another year for the final book, at which point I will have to read the entire trilogy from start to finish. Do you see the vicious path my depraved daughter has set me upon?

Many of you may be familiar with Buckley's  juvenile fiction series, The Sisters Grimm and N.E.R.D.S.   If you have not read either of these truly exceptional series you should definitely give them a try (even if you are an adult). The Sisters Grimm follows Sabrina and Daphne, orphaned sisters who are sent to live with a grandmother that they didn't know existed, in a town inhabited by fairy tale characters. It turns out that all of those fairy tales were true stories. As descendants of the original Grimm brothers, it is the birthright of Sabrina and Daphne to police the magical city of Ferryport Landing. N.E.R.D.S. (which is the acronym for National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society) follows fifth grade spies Duncan "Gluestick" Dewey, Julio "Flinch" Escala, Matilda "Wheezer" Choi, and Jackson "Braceface" Jones as they use their nanobyte enhancements to save the world. Although wildly different, both of these series are hysterically funny and jam-packed with enough action to please even the most reluctant reader.

Speaking of wildly different, Undertow, is about as far from N.E.R.D.S. and The Sisters Grimm as you can get. Besides the obvious difference that Undertow is written for young adults, it is also serious and dark, without any of the lighthearted frivolity  present in Buckley's juvenile books. This may sound like a negative, but trust me when I say that it's not. Imagine District 9, Romeo and Juliet, and the true events surrounding Board vs. Education all taking place in a militarized Coney Island and you will have a general idea of what Undertow is about. Of course, instead of originating from an alien planet, the refugees in Undertow come from the earth's own oceans, but the general premise is the same. People respond to the Alphas with fear, derision, and violence. Although Undertow is a fantasy, the prejudice and vitriol human beings can spread is, unfortunately, all too real.

Now, if you look at Goodreads you will see a number of reviews that slam Undertow for being illogical and absurd. My response to those kind of comments is always: "Well, duh, it's fantasy." Personally, I can overlook some scientific inconsistencies if the story is good and I was completely engrossed after reading the first chapter of Undertow.

 I loved that the main character, 16 year old Lyric, is not your typical whiny, angst-ridden, teen novel heroine. If you have read The Sisters Grimm series you are aware that Buckley is capable of creating intelligent, interesting, as well as flawed, female characters. Since Undertow is directed at an older audience, Buckley is able to make Lyric and all of the characters deeper and more complex than the characters in his juvenile books. With many teen books the heroine begins the story as quiet and reserved and slowly comes into her own. Lyric is already confident and strong-willed, but a family secret is forcing her to "lay low" and go unnoticed. It was interesting to see these glimpses of Lyric's true personality throughout the book until eventually she cannot help but be who she is.

Just pretend that Tony has gills and no one is singing.

The supporting cast of characters in Undertow is equally appealing. Of course, it is a teen book so there has to be some romance. However, Lyric and Fathom, the prince of the Alphas, are not just two ordinary teens. Like Maria and Tony from West Side Story, they are facing racism, cultural differences, and familial pressure.

I will say that the ending of Undertow felt a bit rushed, but overall the book was exciting and thought provoking. Being the first in a trilogy, it ended on a total cliff hanger and now I have to wait all of the way till February to find out what happens next. To quote Charlie Brown: "AAUGH!" From now on I am not reading a series unless every book is available at the library.