First published 2014
Callie Morgan has spent years struggling to breathe. A mysterious lung condition has choked her life since childhood, ever since she watched her mother drown off the California coast. Her father moved them inland to escape the memories and find dry air that might heal her damaged lungs. For years they ran from the ocean and everything it represented. Now her father's new job forces them back to the water, this time in Florida. Callie's breathing problems vanish almost immediately. She can finally live like a normal teenager. But the ocean calls to her with the same magnetic force that claimed her mother. Each day the waves pull her closer to their cold embrace. As Callie discovers her family's hidden history, she realizes that generations of women before her have faced this same deadly attraction. The sea offers both healing and destruction, and Callie must choose which legacy she will inherit.
Genres: fantasy, contemporary, magical-realism, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: chosen-one, found-family
Setting: California, Florida
Period: contemporary
388 pages · Hardcover · Dutton Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: medical-trauma