Magic and adventure under the waves
This young adult novel does a great job of mixing reality and fantasy.
THIS is a story of sea monsters, of a magical portal between two worlds, of people who can talk to fish and walk beneath the waves.
It is also a story about the horror soft he slave trade, of historical figures that go missing, and refugees making dangerous journeys across a treacherous sea in their search for a bet t er life.
You wouldn’t think that mixing whimsical fantasy elements with sombre historical events would be a good idea. Yet H.N. Bouwman’s young adult nov el A Crack In The Sea does t his, and what ’s more, does it extremely well, creating a ni mme rs ive and original tale that is epic in every sense of t he word.
American author Bouwman, whoi san associate professor of English at the University of St Thomas, Minnesota, seems to have a fondness for blending real life and fiction. Her first novel, The Remarkable And Very True Story Of Lucy & Snowcap (Marshall Cavendish Children ,2008), also did this, blending a story of imaginary islands with the historical background of America and Australia.
In A Crack In The Sea, Bouwman t ells three inter connected stories, each focusing on an unusual brother-and-sister pair.
The first story is of Pip and Kin chen, whore side in“the second world ”, a fascinating place much like our own but with a few key differences. For one thing, the two liv e on Raft world, a giant mass of connect - ed rafts that sails these as of the second world.
The Raft King, who rules over Raft world, is fascinated by Pip, who has the gift of being able to talk to fish. And when Pip is abducted to help the Raft King with his sinister plans, it’ s up to Kin chen to get him back to safety.
The second st ory t akes place in our world, and t ells of Venus and Swimmer, t wo African siblings who are t rapped on board a slav e ship bound for Jamaica in 1781.
Knowing t hey are heading t owards cert ain doom, t he t wo manage t o find a way out of t heir t errible sit uat ion – t hey find t hemselv es ent ering t he second world t hrough a myst erious undersea port al.
The t hird st ory t akes place in 1978, and t ells of Thanh and Sang, t wo Viet namese t eenagers planning t o escape t heir homeland aft er it is rav aged by t he Viet nam War
Joining a rag-t ag bunch of people, t hey plan t o sail across t he Sout h China Sea, hoping t o reach a refugee camp in Malaysia or Thailand.
Along t he way, t hey encount er ferocious st orms, dangerous pirat es ... and t he same myst erious port al t o anot her world.
Bouwman’s writ ing is st rong, and her nov el somet imes t akes on a myt hic qualit y, giv ing readers t he impression t hey are reading a folk t ale or a myt hic legend. The worlds of her st ory (bot h hist orical and fant ast ical) are well-defined, and her charact ers are st rong and memorable – t he fact t hat t hey all come from such div erse races and backgrounds is icing on t he cake!
As you can t ell by now, A Crack In The Sea explores some rat her dark part s of hist ory; indeed, t he book’s aft erword cont ains informat ion about t he real-life st ory of t he Zong, a slav eship inv olv ed in a part icularly gruesome sit uat ion), which part ly inspired t he nov el.
This sort of subject mat t er, fort unat ely, is handled deftly and sensitive ly by Bouwman, who admirably never talks down to her young adult audience.
Violence and cruelty are very real things that could happen to her characters at many stages of their adventure; however, these elements are mostly implied rather than described out right, ensuring the book never feels too dark.
Bouwman’s book also serves as a nice coming-of-age tale, particularly through the characters of Kin chen and Venus, who must overcome some really difficult situations to reach their goals. Also fun to read about are Pip and Thanh, who are bot h outside rs–reading how they figure out their place in the world is quite a nice experience.
The tale does have some minor issues: it jumps across t imelines and worlds a bit , which can be a bit confusing, and a subplot involving a sea creature’ s quest feels al ittl eu nd eve loped.
Some of the characters also see ma little undeveloped: Swimmer, for example, seemed to be there mostly to makeup numbers! Certain parts also drag a bit: if you are looking for an act ion packed high seas adventures, this may not be the book for you.
These aside, A Crack In The Sea is a truly magical tale. While it was written mostly for a young adult audience, it’ s safe to say that many adults will succumb to its charms as well. If anything, the book will fill your next trip to these aside with wonder: who knows, after all, what magical things there could be beneath the waves?