The Deep

September 1, 2009
The Kraken is awakening and will destroy the undersea world of Ingo unless he receives a sacrifice of two Mer children. Summoned to a Mer gathering, Sapphire, who learned to balance her dual Mer and human heritage in Ingo and The Tide Knot (rev. 9/06 and 1/08), agrees to a quest: she will dive to the Deep where the pure-blooded Mer cannot go in order to lull the Kraken back to sleep. In exchange, her human father, entrapped in the Mer world, will be allowed to choose between being Mer and being human. Faro (a Mer with some human blood) and Sapphire's brother Conor join her on the dangerous quest, riding a motherly whale down to where the cold and dark and pressure can easily snuff a life -- and there the shape-shifting Kraken snares them in a deadly game of deception. The pacing is deliberate but the stakes are relentlessly high as Dunmore explores themes of identity and belonging, as well as the price of deceiving oneself: Sapphire's main weapon against the Kraken is a mirror that shows those things about themselves most people would rather not confront. Sapphire's picturesque life on the coast of Cornwall and the enchanting and perilous world underwater are depicted with equal depth and resonance in Dunmore's commanding prose.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2010
The Kraken is awakening and poised to destroy the undersea world of Ingo. Mer/human Sapphire (Ingo, The Tide Knot) must dive to the Deep in order to lull the Kraken back to sleep. The story's pacing is deliberate, but the stakes are relentlessly high. In commanding prose and with depth and resonance, Dunmore explores themes of identity and belonging.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

August 1, 2009
Grades 5-8 Just when the Tide Knot had been sealed and the village of St. Pirans had begun to recover from Katrina-like devastation caused by its unleashing, siblings Sapphy and Conor get word of more rumblings from the sea kingdom of Ingo. An underwater monster called the Kraken has awakened, threatening more calamity unless he can be appeased with the sacrifice of Mer children. The two heroes dive in for another suspenseful battle against evil, using their cleverness, courage, and combination Mer-human DNA. Dunmores fine writing delivers again for fans of the Ingo series, with the promise of more installments to wrap up plot details.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)