The Turn of the Tide

by Rosanne Parry

From acclaimed author Rosanne Parry comes an exciting and tender friendship story about two cousins looking for their destiny.
 
On a beautiful day in June, the ground broke open.
 
In Japan, you’re always prepared for an earthquake. That’s why Kai knows just what to do when the first rumbles shake the earth. But he does the exact opposite of what you’re supposed to He runs. And then the tsunami hits.
 
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pacific, Kai’s cousin Jet sets sail off the coast of Astoria, Oregon. She knows she should have checked the tide—she always checks the tide. Except this time she didn’t.
 
When the biggest mistakes of their lives bring them together, Jet and Kai spend the summer regretting that one moment when they made the wrong decision. But there’s something about friendship that heals all wounds, and together, Jet and Kai find the one thing they never thought they’d have again—hope.

Genres: Middle Grade, Adventure, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction

294 pages, Hardcover

First published January 12, 2016

About the author

Hey there,
I'm the author of several novels for young readers, including the NY Times best seller, A WOLF CALLED WANDER and A WHALE OF THE WILD. There is information about all my books on my website.
I write because I love the power of story to illuminate and uplift our world. I try to write things that are heartfelt and encourage conversation in families and classrooms. If you wanted to ask me a question or invite me to come speak at your school or library, I'd love that. There's a contact me area on my website

When I'm not writing I try to be an advocate for literacy and libraries whenever I can. I like to read (obviously) and hike and dance and go to the beach and play the harp and write in my treehouse.

Reviews

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

When an earthquake hits Japan, Kai tries to help his elderly grandparents escape the tsunami waves, but he is unable to get them to move fast enough. After the immediate crisis, Kai is moved from his home in Japan to the safety of Oregon to live with his cousins. His parents stayed behind in Japan to work on the nuclear power plant that was damaged in the storm. Jet is the cousin that Kai moves in with. She dreams of being the pilot of a boat on the Columbia Bar. One day she misses checking the tide though and puts her little brother in serious danger on the water. These two cousins, each wrestling with the results of their actions and the tug of their dreams, have to find a way to forgive themselves and move forward.

Parry, author of Heart of a Shepherd, has once again captured the courage of children on the page. The two protagonists are unique voices in children’s literature. Kai from Japan looks at everything in America as different and foreign. He struggles with his own role in his grandparent’s death and feels a loss of honor for leaving Japan and escaping to safety himself rather than helping rebuild. Jet is a courageous girl who struggles to make and keep friends. She is passionate about sailing and boats but also about her family. Jet doesn’t warm to people easily, and the two cousins face interpersonal issues between them that are organic and realistic.

The setting too is beautifully rendered. The Oregon coast and the Columbia River Bar add real drama and danger to the story. The ever-present weather and tides, the concerns with sailing and family honor, and the dreams of Jet herself meld together into a mix of adventure and destiny. The book has facts at the end about the Columbia River Bar Pilots and about Captain Deborah Dempsey who appears as a character in the book, the only female Columbia River Bar pilot.

Realistic and dangerous adventure in a beautiful and unique part of the United States, this book speaks to working to forgive yourself and overcoming adversity by doing the right thing. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parry strips emotions to a very raw level, a great juxtaposition of two characters experiences with their need to grow up, some great action, but the emotion is real and lovely to experience.

[Lisa Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alas, I'm too old to become a bar pilot

This book brought tears to my eyes. I wish I had grown up learning to sail. The ocean sings to my heart, and this book is like a hymn book.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kai is half-Japanese and half-American, living in Japan when the 2011 tsunami hits. After a terrifying few days in which he loses his grandparents and his home, Kai's parents send him to his father's brother in Astoria, Oregon. There lives his female cousin Jet, who is determined to become a river pilot on the Columbia like her father even though it's a difficult job for a woman to break into. She loves sailing, but has lost her favorite sailing buddy, Beck, to his friendship with the obnoxious Roland. Jet's main aim for the summer is to win the Treasure Race, which both her father and her uncle won in their day. She needs a crew. Kai used to love sailing, but now he's terrified of the sea. He's also having a difficult time adjusting to his uncle's family, and missing Japan and his parents (who work at a nuclear reactor). Will he be able to overcome his fear and help his cousin out?

I mostly enjoyed this, though I felt Jet's story and her character rang more true than Kai's. With Kai, I often felt that his emotions/reactions were described but not felt, or just were not present. For example, when he learns that his grandparents have died, he recalls some past memories of them, but there's no sense of any emotion attached to the moment. He just continues with his morning. Overall I got the feeling that the author would from time to time remember, Oh yeah, he had a traumatic time, and then try to reference that somehow, but I didn't always buy it. Jet rang completely true, though, with all her desires and screw-ups and complications with friends getting older. The descriptions of Oregon and the Columbia were mostly good, but I often wished for a map because I couldn't picture things from the description alone (there is a map of the race, but it's at the very back of the book--should have been in front, with a bigger map of Astoria and surrounds, as well as a map of Kai's town, which I also couldn't picture). I thought the book moved along well (though that Swedish festival just came out of nowhere), and I liked the drama of the conclusion. I would recommend this for middle schoolers up to 7th grade.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a devastating tsunami destroys much of his town in Japan, Kai comes to stay with his uncle's family in Astoria, Oregon. Still reeling from the loss of his grandparents and disoriented by the new culture into which he has been thrust, Kai is understandably anxious and reticent to share much. To add to his confusion, his uncle and cousin, Jet, are loud and more boisterous than is appropriate in his own culture. Jet makes several mistakes while trying to get Kai involved in preparing for the annual sailboat race in which she plans to participate. Eventually, the two are able to broker a peace based on mutual acceptance, tolerance, and understanding. Although their partnership becomes solid, unexpected events dash their hopes of winning the race. However, they may have won something else even more important. The early descriptions of the onslaught of the tsunami and how quickly the waters covered the area and the beauty of sailing are powerful and remind readers of both the destructive power of nature and its healing powers. Middle graders are likely to enjoy getting to know both Jet and Kai, both determined in their own way to do the right thing, even though they go about it in very different ways. Although imperfect, Jet is a great role model in many ways since she is a girl considering a career almost always reserved for males.

[Liz Friend · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story: Jet nearly sank her family's treasured sailboat. Kai ran instead of saving his grandparents. Now the cousins are spending the summer at Jet's home in Oregon, trying to figure out how to deal with their shame, how to get along and (at least for Jet) how to win the Treasure Island Race just like their dads did years ago. But to do that, she'll have to convince Kai to get in the water again: a tall order for a kid who's just survived a killer wave while his grandparents drowned.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult G: GLBT content G; adult themes (natural disasters, guilt and shame, PSTD-like symptoms) PG; overall rating G.

Liz's comments: This story has a gripping ending to complement Jet and Kai's improving relationship. Encourage kids not to be put off by the sailing talk--this is a fun adventure story. Jet does a good job of learning from her mistakes, and Kai is able to move forward away from his nearly-paralyzing guilt over the death of his grandparents to make peace with himself.

[Faith Elizabeth Hough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kai and Jet are two cousins from different continents who grow closer in the wake of a tsunami and at the prospect of a challenging sailing race. I loved Rosanne Parry's other books, and this one met and exceeded all my expectations. The relatively simple plot is fleshed out by such perfect emotion and characterization that I never wanted to stop reading.
A gorgeously-written story about family and the sea and grieving and growing up.

[Donna]

I liked the "TCKness" for one and the really sad outcome of the earthquake but told in a gentle way. This could easily be a great tween read as well as some high school level.
Didn't hurt that bulk of the story takes place in the PNW along the Columbia River, either:)

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another quality middle-grade fiction book! Set in Astoria, this is the story of a girl who longs to be a bar pilot and her cousin, who is spending the summer in Astoria after a Tsunami kills his grandparents and devastates his town. There is sailing, adventure and tough choices.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story is good--two cousins from opposite sides of the Pacific become acquainted and learn to appreciate one another through sailing. Especially interesting is the glimpse of Japanese culture and its contrast to American culture. Too much nautical vocabulary for most student readers.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received for free through Goodreads Giveaway.

This is a book geared toward 3rd grade and up. I'm a school librarian and can't wait to share this with my students.

[Hoover Public Library Kids and Teens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cousins who usually live on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean are brought together by tragedy. Will sailing, which they both love, turn the tide on their suffering?

[Sonja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two cousins meet when Kai is sent from Japan to Astoria, Oregon after an earthquake and Tsunami devastates his town, leaving him grieving grandparents that didn't make it and fearful of water. His Astoria cousin, Jet, is obsessed with the ocean and her ambition of becoming the second-ever female Columbia River bar pilot. These 13-year-olds awkwardly work through a summer together and bond after deciding to team up to enter a sailing race that their fathers crewed together and won "back in the day." It is an interesting, understated story with an unexpected ending. More like life than most novels tend to be.

[alexis · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok no. i’m sorry. i don’t like this book that much. it seems like a middle grade book (not that i have anything against that). the book just wasn’t my type. it was too dry, like eating a mouthful of sand (ew). i do think the pacing was nearly perfect, though. the characters were a big role in this rating. i just didn’t connect to the characters. it’s pretty unrealistic, really. kai can speak english really well even though he’s lived in japan his whole life? oliver loves reading so much that he doesn’t even eat? bridgie and skye are stereotypical. ugh. it just made me finishing the book harder and harder.

- christina nguyen ♡

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at pg 170. I was excited to read this as a lot of it takes place in Astoria, Oregon. It is also about boats. It started out a little confusingly switching each chapter between one cousin in Oregon and the other in Japan. Then those storylines merge and it was hard to get past the negativity. The way they think and talk of their family and the way Jet thinks of the bully at school. I stopped when 12 year olds were disagreeing about having boyfriends as one girl had just paired off with the bully who Jet dislikes so much and blames for taking her close friend and previous sailing partner.

At least one instance of profanity (h**l).

[Susie Rangel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover on this one threw me off, looked very juvenile and I was concerned that my middle school readers would not be interested because of the cover. I enjoyed the story itself, though I admit some bias due to my own love of sailing, but found it to be somewhat predictable. The weird relationship back and forth between the cousins feels clunky in addition the boy Kai jumps in and out of his "traditional Japanese" upbringing to a point of unbelievability.

I book talked the book with a group of my more avid readers and will have to see what they think of it.

[Debra Daniels-Zeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has many things going for it--an unlikely protagonist, a feminist/diversity theme, sailing and nautical terms and two ordinary children who become heroes. The action and pacing in this book is near perfect and the characters and conflict kept me reading. The stakes get ramped up in the end, will they be able to save the child? I like how the goal is a team effort the ultimately brought the two cousins together.

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a cute story. I loved quite a few things about it. The Japanese culture was so much fun to explore and I loved the tsunami and the fact that the mom was a comic artist... there were so many things for me to absolutely adore. I do think that it's a bit cliché to have a race, have the characters almost win, and then have them turn back to help someone. That is done in every single competition story. I'm not mad, though. Kai and Jet are two of my favorite middle grade characters now.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent children’s book! While there is plenty of action, this story is also very reflective and heartfelt. I loved that it takes place in my hometown & much of the detail is accurate to where I live. It felt familiar. Loved it.

[Shauna Nokes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this quick read while I was sick in bed today. The characters were good and relatable with a good amount of character growth throughout the story. Great novel for upper elementary/middle school.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story that illuminates cultural differences as well as having a feminist message.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another winner by Rosanne Parry. I think it an odd choice for the 6-8 OBOB list (maybe better for 3-5) but a solid book regardless of who's reading it.

[Amy Calkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful book about Astoria and sailing and the Columbia Crossing. Author’s note is excellent as well as the recommended reading.

[Shelly Macer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solids story, solid writer. Recommended by a student which is always a good sign.

[Kaitlynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Turn of the Tide was a very interesting book. I could hardly put it down in the really interesting chapters. It was way different than what I normally read but I liked it.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was creating questions for my son's battle team and I kept wanting to just read it, not stop and create questions. Nice story, but fewer sailing adventures than I was expecting.

[Tori Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how it speaks against sexism

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had a lot more substance than I was expecting. It was recommended to me by a 6th grader, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I love being pleasantly surprised.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cousins Kai and Jet live on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean: Jet in Oregon and Kai in Japan. When a tsunami hits Kai's community, he is sent to stay with Jet's family while the adults begin the rebuilding effort. While Jet tries her best to welcome her cousin into her boisterous Swedish-American family, Kai is consumed with guilt for not being with his family and friends during this tragic time. When Jet finds herself in need of a sailing partner for an upcoming race, however, she and Kai find a way to truly develop a family bond with one another. After reading through all the Swallows and Amazons books a few years ago, I am instantly drawn to books that involve sailing, despite the fact that I have never been on a sailboat. This book fulfilled everything I was hoping for: memorable characters, a strong adventure storyline, and hope throughout the story for a happy ending even though some sad events occur. I might have liked a bit more character development aside from Kai's reaction to the tsunami and Jet's desire to be the second female bar pilot, but kids who are more interested in plot than character won't have that problem. Overall, the writing is excellent, with lots of vivid, yet easy-to-understand descriptions, and a truly nail-biting finale. Boys and girls will like it equally, and it will make a nice book club or classroom read-aloud choice.