What do you think?
Rate this book
Dark Water
Fifteen-year-old Pearl DeWitt and her mother live in Fallbrook, California, where it’s sunny 340 days of the year, and where her uncle owns a grove of 900 avocado trees. Uncle Hoyt hires migrant workers regularly, but Pearl doesn’t pay much attention to them . . . until Amiel. From the moment she sees him, Pearl is drawn to this boy who keeps to himself, fears being caught by la migra, and is mysteriously unable to talk. And after coming across Amiel’s makeshift hut near Agua Prieta Creek, Pearl falls into a precarious friendship—and a forbidden romance.
Then the wildfires strike. Fallbrook—the town of marigolds and palms, blood oranges and sweet limes—is threatened by the Agua Prieta fire, and a mandatory evacuation order is issued. But Pearl knows that Amiel is in the direct path of the fire, with no one to warn him, no way to get out. Slipping away from safety and her family, Pearl moves toward the dark creek, where the smoke has become air, the air smoke.
Laura McNeal has crafted a beautiful and haunting novel full of peril, desperation, and love.
Then the wildfires strike. Fallbrook—the town of marigolds and palms, blood oranges and sweet limes—is threatened by the Agua Prieta fire, and a mandatory evacuation order is issued. But Pearl knows that Amiel is in the direct path of the fire, with no one to warn him, no way to get out. Slipping away from safety and her family, Pearl moves toward the dark creek, where the smoke has become air, the air smoke.
Laura McNeal has crafted a beautiful and haunting novel full of peril, desperation, and love.
287 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews
October 14, 2010
I just don't get it, why is it necessary to sell every YA book as some romance story, regardless of its actual content?
Just take a look at Dark Water's publisher provided description: Fifteen-year-old Pearl DeWitt and her mother live in Fallbrook, California... where her uncle owns a grove of 900 avocado trees. Uncle Hoyt hires migrant workers regularly, but Pearl doesn’t pay much attention to them . . . until Amiel. From the moment she sees him, Pearl is drawn to this boy who keeps to himself, fears being caught by la migra, and is mysteriously unable to talk. And after coming across Amiel’s makeshift hut near Agua Prieta Creek, Pearl falls into a precarious friendship—and a forbidden romance (emphasis mine).
Seriously, doesn't it sound like another Perfect Chemistry-like white girl/brown boy, wrong-side-of-the-track type of story which Dark Water absolutely is not?
Instead, this is a beautifully written, quality literary YA fiction about one girl's confusing summer when she has to deal with many difficult things - her father's infidelity, her mother's unraveling and her cousin's obsessive revenge plans. Yes, there is Amiel, but is it romance between them or a misguided infatuation that ends up costing Pearl way too much?
A combination of flawless writing, descriptive and atmospheric without being overwrought and over-ornamented by flowery adjectives and laughable similes, complex relationships and realistic characters, is what makes this novel worthy of its National Book Award acclaim, and definitely not the "forbidden romance" aspect of it.
If you, like me, are a fan of Sara Zarr's quiet, introspective novels rather than Simone Elkeles's get-in-her-pants-on-a-dare/sex-in-the-garage romances, Dark Water is a book for you.
Just take a look at Dark Water's publisher provided description: Fifteen-year-old Pearl DeWitt and her mother live in Fallbrook, California... where her uncle owns a grove of 900 avocado trees. Uncle Hoyt hires migrant workers regularly, but Pearl doesn’t pay much attention to them . . . until Amiel. From the moment she sees him, Pearl is drawn to this boy who keeps to himself, fears being caught by la migra, and is mysteriously unable to talk. And after coming across Amiel’s makeshift hut near Agua Prieta Creek, Pearl falls into a precarious friendship—and a forbidden romance (emphasis mine).
Seriously, doesn't it sound like another Perfect Chemistry-like white girl/brown boy, wrong-side-of-the-track type of story which Dark Water absolutely is not?
Instead, this is a beautifully written, quality literary YA fiction about one girl's confusing summer when she has to deal with many difficult things - her father's infidelity, her mother's unraveling and her cousin's obsessive revenge plans. Yes, there is Amiel, but is it romance between them or a misguided infatuation that ends up costing Pearl way too much?
A combination of flawless writing, descriptive and atmospheric without being overwrought and over-ornamented by flowery adjectives and laughable similes, complex relationships and realistic characters, is what makes this novel worthy of its National Book Award acclaim, and definitely not the "forbidden romance" aspect of it.
If you, like me, are a fan of Sara Zarr's quiet, introspective novels rather than Simone Elkeles's get-in-her-pants-on-a-dare/sex-in-the-garage romances, Dark Water is a book for you.
August 7, 2011
Welcome to Conflicted-Ville (population: one), where this ambivalent resident will attempt to stop flip-flopping between opinions and write a review with a modicum of coherency.
This award-winning coming of age novel by Laura McNeal has garnered a bevy of praise and accolades, and much love from readers and reviewers alike for its beautifully written prose and thought provoking denouement.
Dark Water has some serious literary style, in that the writing is considered and subtle. While atmospheric and elegantly descriptive, the writing is not flowery, or weighed down with clunky adjectives. Short, concise chapters also make the story flow easily. Each word feels carefully selected, sentences artfully constructed. The writing is clear, yet it plumbs hidden depths of complexity in terms of the themes it addresses. In fact, if this book was a river, it would be deep and wide and languid. It would have a still, reflective surface with a heavy current beneath.
McNeal writes 15 year old Pearl DeWitt with a convincing, intelligent voice. Pearl’s relationships with the other characters are complicated. From her parent’s divorce, her cousin’s anger, her uncle’s possible adultery, Pearl’s feelings toward them are well-articulated, and true to her somewhat reflective teenage character. The dialogue, especially with her cousin Robby, is witty and crisp. Then there’s her attraction to almost mute, undocumented Mexican migrant worker Amiel. The catalyst for a series of choices Pearl will make with tragic consequences, the relationship is quite poignant.
Yet, I feel it is a mistake to bill this book as a teenage romance, as while this is integral to the plot, the focus of the story is more on the far-reaching effects and fallout of the decisions the protagonist makes. It’s more about family, and mistakes, and disaster, and actions that can’t be undone, that will send a life hurtling down a different track with one small misstep of judgement.
So, why the low / non-committal rating?
Because I felt disconnected from this book as I read.
Despite the gut-wrenching finale, and the masterful way impact was created from a somewhat somnolent beginning, I had too many periods of disengagement from Pearl. Even sections when I felt wholly frustrated and, dare I say it, bored with her.
Objectively, I appreciated the writing, the symbolism, the bittersweet-ness and introspection of the story. But personally, I didn’t feel a moved as I wanted to be. Part of me wants to love it for the powerful, brave way McNeal chose to tell this story. Another part of me is just shoulder-shrugging, and frankly, left feeling a little bit ‘meh’.
I liked it. I didn’t like it. It was deep and stirring. It was slow and tedious. I liked the main character. I was annoyed by her.
Much starred, loved, praised, this is a well-written and intelligent book I would recommend to lovers of literary fiction. I’m glad I read Dark Water, but ultimately I just couldn’t fall in love with it.
June 19, 2026
“It wasn’t wrong in theory. It wasn’t forbidden. But I understood that it was very strange and different, someone like him and someone like me. The people who have nothing aren’t allowed to touch the people with cars and houses. They can work here. That’s all.”
“Looking back, I see that I was beginning my practice with lies, preparing unconsciously for the day four months in the future when the fire would jump from tree to tree and roof to roof and I would head straight to the woods, to Amiel, to a house no fireman would think to defend but where all that I had come to love was in danger of burning alive.”
This is an exceptional young adult novel, a previous worthy finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Set in the Fallbrook area of North San Diego County, California, the book focuses on 15-year-old Pearl De Witt, who is living rent-free but uneasily with her distressed mother, Sharon, in the guest house on Pearl’s well-to-do Uncle Hoyt’s avocado ranch. The girl’s father, a high-flying property developer, has recently left Pearl and her mum high and dry. Sharon can barely manage financially. She’s working as a substitute teacher and eventually takes on a second job in a café.
The plot revolves around Pearl’s attraction to a teenage Mexican migrant worker, Amiel, whom she sees juggling and miming at an intersection near her high school, a day-labours’ pickup point. She convinces her amiable uncle to hire him. He’s almost certainly there illegally.
There’s an unspoken rule that employers (whites) don’t mix with the Mexican workers, but Pearl defies this. Amiel discourages contact, acutely aware of the irregularity, even danger, of friendship, never mind something more. Initially, it appears that the young man is mute and understands no English, but this proves to be untrue. He’s suffered a traumatic injury to his larynx—he can speak but his voice is raspy—and he does have some grasp of English. Interestingly, much of the communication between the young people is nonverbal.
Of one interaction Pearl observes:
When Pearl learns where Amiel is living—illegally, on a nature preserve—she begins to visit him secretly. While she tells no one of her relationship with the boy, her cousin Robby (to whom she is very close) and her aunt Agnès (who arranges for medical care when Amiel’s hand is badly injured) have their suspicions.
The climax of the story hinges on a huge wildfire that sweeps Northern San Diego County. (This is apparently based on the Rice Fire of 2007). Thousands are ordered to evacuate, Pearl and her extended family among them. However, the girl doubts Amiel knows anything of these orders. He has no mobile phone and, she believes, no access to a radio. In the general chaos, she decides to go to him. The consequences are tragic.
McNeal writes well. Her descriptions of the natural world—the river, the trees, and the wildlife—are unforced and skilfully woven into the story. She provides humour in the repartee between Pearl and her cousin, who has his own challenges. (Robby believes he’s discovered a dark secret about his dad, Hoyt.) Most important of all, McNeal has created an intelligent and genuinely interesting character in Pearl. The reader sympathizes with her and her love for Amiel.
This isn’t a perfect book—a couple of coincidences are hard to credit, for example. Still, Dark Water is a worthy and compelling novel, one I believe many teenage girls would enjoy.
“Looking back, I see that I was beginning my practice with lies, preparing unconsciously for the day four months in the future when the fire would jump from tree to tree and roof to roof and I would head straight to the woods, to Amiel, to a house no fireman would think to defend but where all that I had come to love was in danger of burning alive.”
This is an exceptional young adult novel, a previous worthy finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Set in the Fallbrook area of North San Diego County, California, the book focuses on 15-year-old Pearl De Witt, who is living rent-free but uneasily with her distressed mother, Sharon, in the guest house on Pearl’s well-to-do Uncle Hoyt’s avocado ranch. The girl’s father, a high-flying property developer, has recently left Pearl and her mum high and dry. Sharon can barely manage financially. She’s working as a substitute teacher and eventually takes on a second job in a café.
The plot revolves around Pearl’s attraction to a teenage Mexican migrant worker, Amiel, whom she sees juggling and miming at an intersection near her high school, a day-labours’ pickup point. She convinces her amiable uncle to hire him. He’s almost certainly there illegally.
There’s an unspoken rule that employers (whites) don’t mix with the Mexican workers, but Pearl defies this. Amiel discourages contact, acutely aware of the irregularity, even danger, of friendship, never mind something more. Initially, it appears that the young man is mute and understands no English, but this proves to be untrue. He’s suffered a traumatic injury to his larynx—he can speak but his voice is raspy—and he does have some grasp of English. Interestingly, much of the communication between the young people is nonverbal.
Of one interaction Pearl observes:
he took my hand and held it as if we were going to shake like normal strangers, moving our arms up and down politely, but instead we were still. We stood like that, hand in hand, and it reminded me of what happens when you join circuits on a circuit board. The current travels and the bulb of the light begins to glow.
When Pearl learns where Amiel is living—illegally, on a nature preserve—she begins to visit him secretly. While she tells no one of her relationship with the boy, her cousin Robby (to whom she is very close) and her aunt Agnès (who arranges for medical care when Amiel’s hand is badly injured) have their suspicions.
The climax of the story hinges on a huge wildfire that sweeps Northern San Diego County. (This is apparently based on the Rice Fire of 2007). Thousands are ordered to evacuate, Pearl and her extended family among them. However, the girl doubts Amiel knows anything of these orders. He has no mobile phone and, she believes, no access to a radio. In the general chaos, she decides to go to him. The consequences are tragic.
McNeal writes well. Her descriptions of the natural world—the river, the trees, and the wildlife—are unforced and skilfully woven into the story. She provides humour in the repartee between Pearl and her cousin, who has his own challenges. (Robby believes he’s discovered a dark secret about his dad, Hoyt.) Most important of all, McNeal has created an intelligent and genuinely interesting character in Pearl. The reader sympathizes with her and her love for Amiel.
This isn’t a perfect book—a couple of coincidences are hard to credit, for example. Still, Dark Water is a worthy and compelling novel, one I believe many teenage girls would enjoy.
March 1, 2017
”Tú eres de dos mundos.
He was wrong, of course. You can only belong to one world at a time.”
After her parent’s divorce, Pearl and her mother move in with her uncle in the town of Fallbrook, California. Located in the Central Valley and home to the largest concentration of agriculture in the state, her uncle owns an avocado orchard stock full not only of the crop, but migrant farmworkers. One of those farmworkers happens to catch Pearl’s eye. Amiel first comes to her attention when she convinces her uncle to hire him off a street corner. Mysteriously unable to talk, Pearl quickly becomes fascinated with Amiel and starts falling for him, despite the fact that they come from two different worlds and relationships between migrants and non-migrants is strictly forbidden.
In truth, I think that this book was mismarketed. From the sounds of the blurb, it makes it sound like another typical YA romance novel. If that’s what you’re looking for, then you’ll be disappointed because despite what the blurb says, there’s very little romance involved. What the book said it would be and what the book actually was were two very different things. And truth be told, I don’t know whether that’s bad or not. It’s part social commentary on the immigration situation America’s in, part high school melodrama story, and part love story/obsession (though from what I read, it seemed like more of the latter adjective). I don’t even think the book knew what it wanted to be.
Another irk (major irk, in fact) was the romance aspect. I can’t even accurately describe the relationship between Amiel and Pearl. They meet and kiss a few times (including one extremely confusing make out scene where I wasn’t quite sure what was happening), but I never got the distinct impression that they truly cared about one another. I thought it was very one-sided, with Pearl being the one side that actually cared about him. The author made Amiel such a morally gray and complicated character that I never got the distinct impression that he cared about Pearl at all, let alone loved her. Thinking back to all of their interactions, she was always the one who made the first move, while he just kind of stood there and took it. He didn’t reject her, but he didn’t acknowledge what she was feeling. Reading about a one-sided romance wasn’t all that fun to read about.
The ending was a true testament to the above fact. When the wildfire starts, Pearl
If you’re looking for a contemporary YA romance, you won’t find it here. If you’re looking for a survivalist story, you won’t find it here. If you’re looking for a book commenting on the immigration and migrant worker plight in America today, you won’t find that here. This book is very much like Pearl herself: trying to identify where they fit in separate worlds, but finding that they can only exist in one. Unfortunately, it fails in doing even that.
He was wrong, of course. You can only belong to one world at a time.”
After her parent’s divorce, Pearl and her mother move in with her uncle in the town of Fallbrook, California. Located in the Central Valley and home to the largest concentration of agriculture in the state, her uncle owns an avocado orchard stock full not only of the crop, but migrant farmworkers. One of those farmworkers happens to catch Pearl’s eye. Amiel first comes to her attention when she convinces her uncle to hire him off a street corner. Mysteriously unable to talk, Pearl quickly becomes fascinated with Amiel and starts falling for him, despite the fact that they come from two different worlds and relationships between migrants and non-migrants is strictly forbidden.
”It wasn’t wrong, in theory. It wasn’t forbidden. But I understand that it was very strange and different, someone like him and someone like me. The people who have nothing aren’t allowed to touch the people with cars and houses. They can work here. That’s all.”But when a blazing wildfire threatens her uncle’s business and her new home, Pearl must ultimately make a decision and decide which world she truly wants to be a part of.
In truth, I think that this book was mismarketed. From the sounds of the blurb, it makes it sound like another typical YA romance novel. If that’s what you’re looking for, then you’ll be disappointed because despite what the blurb says, there’s very little romance involved. What the book said it would be and what the book actually was were two very different things. And truth be told, I don’t know whether that’s bad or not. It’s part social commentary on the immigration situation America’s in, part high school melodrama story, and part love story/obsession (though from what I read, it seemed like more of the latter adjective). I don’t even think the book knew what it wanted to be.
Another irk (major irk, in fact) was the romance aspect. I can’t even accurately describe the relationship between Amiel and Pearl. They meet and kiss a few times (including one extremely confusing make out scene where I wasn’t quite sure what was happening), but I never got the distinct impression that they truly cared about one another. I thought it was very one-sided, with Pearl being the one side that actually cared about him. The author made Amiel such a morally gray and complicated character that I never got the distinct impression that he cared about Pearl at all, let alone loved her. Thinking back to all of their interactions, she was always the one who made the first move, while he just kind of stood there and took it. He didn’t reject her, but he didn’t acknowledge what she was feeling. Reading about a one-sided romance wasn’t all that fun to read about.
The ending was a true testament to the above fact. When the wildfire starts, Pearl
If you’re looking for a contemporary YA romance, you won’t find it here. If you’re looking for a survivalist story, you won’t find it here. If you’re looking for a book commenting on the immigration and migrant worker plight in America today, you won’t find that here. This book is very much like Pearl herself: trying to identify where they fit in separate worlds, but finding that they can only exist in one. Unfortunately, it fails in doing even that.
August 27, 2013
Well, this book irritated me more than any in recent memory. Before I get going on my rant, in the interest of being fair, I’ll start off by mentioning two things the book did well. First, the writing itself was well done. Second, the banter between Pearl and her cousin was pretty amusing.
But now I’m done being fair. Pearl was just totally and completely an unsympathetic character. She started off fine—not particularly charismatic, but not especially annoying either. But then, when her obsessive crush on Amiel starts, man did she drive me crazy. I mean first of all, she knows nothing about him and they don’t have any complete conversations in the entire book. They don’t even speak the same language. Second, Amiel doesn’t actually seem that into her—she’s the one who’s always tracking him down. Not to mention the fact that he’s an illegal immigrant, so her always trying to get involved with him probably puts him in increased danger. But does Pearl care about any of this? Nope. She’s off in her naïve fantasy land where everything revolves around her.
And don’t even get me started on all the bad decisions Pearl makes once the fire starts. If there was ever a character I wish I could shake some sense into, it would be Pearl. Every single choice she makes about the fire is the wrong one, and the things she does in those last chapters are what finally irrevocably clinched my frustration with the book, because her selfishness hurts others, and that’s much harder for me to forgive than her simply being a starry-eyed 15-year-old.
And to top it all off, the final chapter is the worst of them all because (Spoilers) Pearl makes plans to go to Mexico to find Amiel. I mean, come on! Besides the fact that their relationship existed mostly in her head to start with, what does she think she’s going to do once she finds him? Live happily ever after in poverty in Mexico? Her big plan is for him to become a famous mime, for pete’s sake. A MIME! I don’t really trust her judgement. (End spoilers) (And end rant).
Overall, not the book for me. I’ll reiterate that the writing was nicely done, but man oh man did Pearl seriously make me mad.
Rating: 2 / 5
Originally posted at Book Light Graveyard
But now I’m done being fair. Pearl was just totally and completely an unsympathetic character. She started off fine—not particularly charismatic, but not especially annoying either. But then, when her obsessive crush on Amiel starts, man did she drive me crazy. I mean first of all, she knows nothing about him and they don’t have any complete conversations in the entire book. They don’t even speak the same language. Second, Amiel doesn’t actually seem that into her—she’s the one who’s always tracking him down. Not to mention the fact that he’s an illegal immigrant, so her always trying to get involved with him probably puts him in increased danger. But does Pearl care about any of this? Nope. She’s off in her naïve fantasy land where everything revolves around her.
And don’t even get me started on all the bad decisions Pearl makes once the fire starts. If there was ever a character I wish I could shake some sense into, it would be Pearl. Every single choice she makes about the fire is the wrong one, and the things she does in those last chapters are what finally irrevocably clinched my frustration with the book, because her selfishness hurts others, and that’s much harder for me to forgive than her simply being a starry-eyed 15-year-old.
And to top it all off, the final chapter is the worst of them all because (Spoilers) Pearl makes plans to go to Mexico to find Amiel. I mean, come on! Besides the fact that their relationship existed mostly in her head to start with, what does she think she’s going to do once she finds him? Live happily ever after in poverty in Mexico? Her big plan is for him to become a famous mime, for pete’s sake. A MIME! I don’t really trust her judgement. (End spoilers) (And end rant).
Overall, not the book for me. I’ll reiterate that the writing was nicely done, but man oh man did Pearl seriously make me mad.
Rating: 2 / 5
Originally posted at Book Light Graveyard
October 28, 2010
Love, love, love the writing. McNeal knows her way around a sentence. But I didn't buy the love story or main character Pearl's improbably bad decision making based upon it. Great adult crossover potential, but I would have to think about the ideal teen reader. Several 8th graders reading it now for National Book Award panel, so we'll see...
September 23, 2010
DARK WATER can probably be summed up in one word: LONGING.
Now, have a look at that cover. The girl wades into the water, her eyes closed, her face tilted upward. You can practically hear in her mind: please. Brilliant, no? So freaking moving just to look at it. And they used one of the focal points within the story, the dark water, to convey that sense of mystery which pervades the entire book.
From the outset, we know that there is some great fire that breaks out (so no mystery there) and we know something life-changing will result from it; we just don’t know what or how it is she gets to that point. We know there’s love and that fifteen year old Pearl is connected to Amiel, but there’s such a strong sense of desperation throughout, a sense of inevitability that nearly takes your breath away. It’s clear that Pearl is looking back from some point in the future; yet it never feels as if she’s withholding anything from you. It’s more like the story is simply unfolding organically, but with a glimpse of the end which only whets your appetite. You think you know how it will end, but every ounce of your readerly being hopes you’re wrong. The story itself is overlaid with want want want, but we all know that at fifteen, want always feels more like need need need, so it made sense that I felt that too. Indeed, DARK WATER captures the very essence of what it means to be fifteen.
There’s not a whole lot of action in this, at least not until nearing the end—not in the same sense as HUNGER GAMES or the like—although it isn’t a static story either. It was moving and flowing the entire time. But certainly, DARK WATER is more character driven, and perhaps that’s why it felt, in part, like such an emotional book for me. And the voice was so unbelievably genuine, so…fifteen. I truly felt like I was experiencing the world through the eyes of a real girl, not just some blank canvas that will let a reader fill in the white space with her own personality. And yet, while her personality was very distinct, I felt like she experienced so many of the same sort of crushing emotions I felt at the same age. Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t all angsty and OMGtheDRAMA! It was far more subtle than that, more real and intense, like a mature soul facing the realities of life for the first time.
And the prose was simply astounding. I don’t know what more to say aside from…WOW. I felt my own writerly envy kicking in. Just an example:
If he had run, I could have chased him and known what I was doing, because I know how to be eight, nine, ten, and eleven, but he stood up and looked as confused as I felt (ARC 180-1)
Like I said, fifteen. At fifteen, we have no idea how to live inside of ourselves, and yet we long to be a part of the world, to not only know who we are, but to feel alive. Laura McNeal captured that feeling beautifully.
Now, have a look at that cover. The girl wades into the water, her eyes closed, her face tilted upward. You can practically hear in her mind: please. Brilliant, no? So freaking moving just to look at it. And they used one of the focal points within the story, the dark water, to convey that sense of mystery which pervades the entire book.
From the outset, we know that there is some great fire that breaks out (so no mystery there) and we know something life-changing will result from it; we just don’t know what or how it is she gets to that point. We know there’s love and that fifteen year old Pearl is connected to Amiel, but there’s such a strong sense of desperation throughout, a sense of inevitability that nearly takes your breath away. It’s clear that Pearl is looking back from some point in the future; yet it never feels as if she’s withholding anything from you. It’s more like the story is simply unfolding organically, but with a glimpse of the end which only whets your appetite. You think you know how it will end, but every ounce of your readerly being hopes you’re wrong. The story itself is overlaid with want want want, but we all know that at fifteen, want always feels more like need need need, so it made sense that I felt that too. Indeed, DARK WATER captures the very essence of what it means to be fifteen.
There’s not a whole lot of action in this, at least not until nearing the end—not in the same sense as HUNGER GAMES or the like—although it isn’t a static story either. It was moving and flowing the entire time. But certainly, DARK WATER is more character driven, and perhaps that’s why it felt, in part, like such an emotional book for me. And the voice was so unbelievably genuine, so…fifteen. I truly felt like I was experiencing the world through the eyes of a real girl, not just some blank canvas that will let a reader fill in the white space with her own personality. And yet, while her personality was very distinct, I felt like she experienced so many of the same sort of crushing emotions I felt at the same age. Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t all angsty and OMGtheDRAMA! It was far more subtle than that, more real and intense, like a mature soul facing the realities of life for the first time.
And the prose was simply astounding. I don’t know what more to say aside from…WOW. I felt my own writerly envy kicking in. Just an example:
If he had run, I could have chased him and known what I was doing, because I know how to be eight, nine, ten, and eleven, but he stood up and looked as confused as I felt (ARC 180-1)
Like I said, fifteen. At fifteen, we have no idea how to live inside of ourselves, and yet we long to be a part of the world, to not only know who we are, but to feel alive. Laura McNeal captured that feeling beautifully.
March 19, 2011
Blown away by beautiful writing & aching story
In Laura McNeal's DARK WATER, fifteen-year-old Pearl and her mother find themselves living in a rundown cottage on her uncle's avocado ranch after her father leaves. With her mother withering under stress and her cousin Robby hatching vengeful plans against his father, Pearl notices Amiel, one of the new migrant workers. Pearl's tentative relationship with Amiel pushes boundaries, and for the first time in her life, she's making up lies about where's she been and with whom. When wildfires strike the California hills, Pearl's wish to secretly protect Amiel may have tragic consequences.
When starting DARK WATER, I expected good things because I knew it had been a 2010 National Book Award nominee. I was not prepared, however, to be blown away as much as I was. McNeal's writing was effortless and smooth, and her descriptions were striking and evocative without feeling overwrought. While the first chapter heavily foreshadowed much of the events to come, this was one of the few times I've felt this technique added to the story. Instead of making me disappointed in being able to predict the ending, this foreknowledge added another aching layer of melancholy to the story as it unfolded. The ending of the story, while bittersweet and sad, leaves readers with a glimmer of hope about what can happen after unforgiveable mistakes have been made.
Though marketed as a forbidden romance, DARK WATER is much more about family, class, and the irreversible consequences of one's actions. The highlights of this story were the lovingly depicted and convoluted family relationships. Pearl, her mother, Uncle Hoyt, and Robby are all fully realized characters. The details of their interactions rang true, both in their daily conversations and patterns and also in their larger, grander gestures of connection. Pearl came across as achingly real, and while she made decisions that made her less likable at times, her choices were soundly authentic as those of a teen girl. Even though Amiel was less well-drawn, his quiet role in the story also remained important. Others have found flaws with this book, including the more limited development of Amiel and the sometimes slow pacing. Even though these things did exist, they didn't pull me out of the story; rather, I thought the pacing and the choices regarding Amiel's character served the story well.
When combined, the beautiful and descriptive language, the wonderful character development, and an engaging plot made DARK WATER the best book I've read so far this year. I look forward to reading future books by McNeal as well as picking up those that she has already co-authored with her husband, including CROOKED, CRUSHED, and ZIPPED.
Note: This review refers to an advance reader's copy.
In Laura McNeal's DARK WATER, fifteen-year-old Pearl and her mother find themselves living in a rundown cottage on her uncle's avocado ranch after her father leaves. With her mother withering under stress and her cousin Robby hatching vengeful plans against his father, Pearl notices Amiel, one of the new migrant workers. Pearl's tentative relationship with Amiel pushes boundaries, and for the first time in her life, she's making up lies about where's she been and with whom. When wildfires strike the California hills, Pearl's wish to secretly protect Amiel may have tragic consequences.
When starting DARK WATER, I expected good things because I knew it had been a 2010 National Book Award nominee. I was not prepared, however, to be blown away as much as I was. McNeal's writing was effortless and smooth, and her descriptions were striking and evocative without feeling overwrought. While the first chapter heavily foreshadowed much of the events to come, this was one of the few times I've felt this technique added to the story. Instead of making me disappointed in being able to predict the ending, this foreknowledge added another aching layer of melancholy to the story as it unfolded. The ending of the story, while bittersweet and sad, leaves readers with a glimmer of hope about what can happen after unforgiveable mistakes have been made.
Though marketed as a forbidden romance, DARK WATER is much more about family, class, and the irreversible consequences of one's actions. The highlights of this story were the lovingly depicted and convoluted family relationships. Pearl, her mother, Uncle Hoyt, and Robby are all fully realized characters. The details of their interactions rang true, both in their daily conversations and patterns and also in their larger, grander gestures of connection. Pearl came across as achingly real, and while she made decisions that made her less likable at times, her choices were soundly authentic as those of a teen girl. Even though Amiel was less well-drawn, his quiet role in the story also remained important. Others have found flaws with this book, including the more limited development of Amiel and the sometimes slow pacing. Even though these things did exist, they didn't pull me out of the story; rather, I thought the pacing and the choices regarding Amiel's character served the story well.
When combined, the beautiful and descriptive language, the wonderful character development, and an engaging plot made DARK WATER the best book I've read so far this year. I look forward to reading future books by McNeal as well as picking up those that she has already co-authored with her husband, including CROOKED, CRUSHED, and ZIPPED.
Note: This review refers to an advance reader's copy.
February 22, 2022
This is one of those books with such beautiful writing that you can't wait to love it. Unfortunately it's also one of those books which holds you at arm's length, inviting you into the prose, but not into the heart of the characters.
Gosh, do I know the setting of this story. Told from the avocado groves of California (and I lived near these places for years) you come to understand the threat of wildfire as a way of life. You also come to know the workers, who make their living working these groves.
In this amazing coming of age story we meet a girl who doesn't understand this place as well as she ought to. Now does she seem to comprehend the desire of her relatives for her to keep a distance from these workers. Of course she's got a lot going on, between her father's infidelity which has broken her mother's marriage, and the changes in her best friend who has found a boyfriend and somehow just doesn't have time for her anymore. Then throw in a cousin who only wants revenge and can't be bothered with the problems of those around him.
Enter the boy. Unable to speak because of an accident he'd suffered years ago, we find a tragic figure who lives in woods down by the river.
It's a story where a girl and boy are drawn together almost irresistibly. As they struggle to understand each other, what they feel, and the world which would keep them apart, everything shatters and changes in an instant.
Tragic, heartbreaking, beautiful. I would have given this five stars if I could have sank into the lives of the others as much as I did into the life of Pearl. I would have given anything of Amiel had been a little less inscrutible and a little more real. Though maybe that's a decision of the author. For while Pearl is willing to give everything without holding back, Amiel only gives what he can afford to lose, which isn't much. All the same...I sense the turmoil within him and his desire for so much more.
So maybe this book is still pretty good after all. All the same, it's so emotional, likely won't pick it up again.
Gosh, do I know the setting of this story. Told from the avocado groves of California (and I lived near these places for years) you come to understand the threat of wildfire as a way of life. You also come to know the workers, who make their living working these groves.
In this amazing coming of age story we meet a girl who doesn't understand this place as well as she ought to. Now does she seem to comprehend the desire of her relatives for her to keep a distance from these workers. Of course she's got a lot going on, between her father's infidelity which has broken her mother's marriage, and the changes in her best friend who has found a boyfriend and somehow just doesn't have time for her anymore. Then throw in a cousin who only wants revenge and can't be bothered with the problems of those around him.
Enter the boy. Unable to speak because of an accident he'd suffered years ago, we find a tragic figure who lives in woods down by the river.
It's a story where a girl and boy are drawn together almost irresistibly. As they struggle to understand each other, what they feel, and the world which would keep them apart, everything shatters and changes in an instant.
Tragic, heartbreaking, beautiful. I would have given this five stars if I could have sank into the lives of the others as much as I did into the life of Pearl. I would have given anything of Amiel had been a little less inscrutible and a little more real. Though maybe that's a decision of the author. For while Pearl is willing to give everything without holding back, Amiel only gives what he can afford to lose, which isn't much. All the same...I sense the turmoil within him and his desire for so much more.
So maybe this book is still pretty good after all. All the same, it's so emotional, likely won't pick it up again.
February 3, 2011
Despite that fact hat McNeal's Dark Water was a finalist for the National Book Award, the novel is one-sided, overly romantic and only further serves to stereotype Mexican immigrant experience. This novel plays into the worse kind of stereotypes about undocumented worker communities. Using the backdrop of the 2007 fires that raged across San Diego county, the novel only serves to feed the fire of reactionary politics in San Diego. The novel not only fails to grapple with the complexities and hardships of immigrant experience in these transient communities, but it also glosses over the racial politics of a place like Fallbrook, which is a well know stronghold of white power and KKK leaders. Both of these points should be essential to a novel that attempts to visualize the social impossibilities of the ill-fated love story between Pearl and Amiel that the narrative follows. What is even more troubling is that as part of the Young Adult genre, this novel is marketed to young people who are just beginning to formulate opinions about the political climates swirling around them. Thus, the novel becomes implicated in the very plague of social responsibility that it sets out to critique.
June 1, 2011
Introduction
This book Dark Water by Laura McNeal is a good book. This book is about a girl who falls in love with a boy who is an illegal immigrant and she is trying to not only make herself happy but she also try to make her family and this boy that she love happy also. There is then a fire in Fallbrook ,where is life with her family and the boy she love, she not only try to save herself but she also try to save the one she love. But there is a problem, the boy that she try to save is scared that if the Bored Patrol will get him and take him back to Mexico. "They told Amiel to follow them because they had thick boots and they'd be able to make or find a path thought any still-burning coals....I saw Amiel runnying back toward the river." This shows that Amiel was scared that they was going to send him back to where he came from so he ran and Pearl was trying to save him but also herself.
Craft and Structure
The words that I had difficulty with were: metamorphosis, cooperation, bonjour, and indifferent. The way I defined these words were by rereading the context clues, finding affixes, choosing whether it has positive or negative connotations, and replacing the word with other possible meanings.
the point of view of this book is frist person this means that the narrower is talking about her thoughts a fellings this helps me because i know how she fells and things that she is thinking about. Something that was interesting was that when her father was talking to her about his new life and how he wanted her in his new life, all she could think about was the bad things that he done to her and her mother when she was younger.
Theme
The theme of this book is that love has consequences and can sometimes have a negative affect on the choices you have to make, like in this book Pearl has to choose to save herself and be with her family or to save the one she loves. In both choices, she could end up without something. If she saves herself, she will not have Amiel and if she saves him, they will both get hurt and one might die. Love has so many consequences. For example when she says, "My phone made its first warning beep, and I ignored it. I knew I had to call my mother again, but I wanted to find Amiel". This shows that she wanted to find Amiel before she was safe with her family.
Characterization
a weakness my character Pearl has is lieing. In this book she lie to her family a lot just so she can be with Amiel.she lies to her uncle nd to her mother. " The Coombs are going to las vegas... "But they've invited me to go with them," I said....if my uncle said somthing about how i was going with themto Las Vegas, i would really have to go, and Amiel would burn to death in the canyon becasue he had no televison, no radio, no phone, and no car."(pages 225 and 226). this shows that she has lied to her unlce and that he think that she has planed to tell him this and for him to belive her and then for her to go and try and save Amiel. In this book she has also lied about her where abouts.she was telling her mom that she was going to this place or she would not tell her at all and she would be at the tree house with Amiel. Another character who also has a weskness is Amiel and his weakness is not beliveing Pearl when she was trying to help him.i think that the authors characteriztion may confus you as the reader becasue for pearl i thought of her as a girl who doesnt lie and do everthing that she is told and she is alway doing the right thing and what she is told. then when you get father in the book you see a different pearl then you was seeing at the beging of the book she someone who want to be happy even if it mean lieing to her family about what she is doing and where she is going.
Conclsion
i would recommend this book to a friend and a family member because this book is a good book and it help me see some things. things like love can change someone to be a different perso and love will make you do thing you would not do. A part that i like in this book was is when Amiel and paerl have their frist kiss. they are playing hide and seek and they meet at the olk tree and then they just kiss. Another part i like is the part when Amiel is not able to talk throught the book and paerl would always try to get hi to talk to him and tel her about himself and his life before he came to Fallbrook.
This book Dark Water by Laura McNeal is a good book. This book is about a girl who falls in love with a boy who is an illegal immigrant and she is trying to not only make herself happy but she also try to make her family and this boy that she love happy also. There is then a fire in Fallbrook ,where is life with her family and the boy she love, she not only try to save herself but she also try to save the one she love. But there is a problem, the boy that she try to save is scared that if the Bored Patrol will get him and take him back to Mexico. "They told Amiel to follow them because they had thick boots and they'd be able to make or find a path thought any still-burning coals....I saw Amiel runnying back toward the river." This shows that Amiel was scared that they was going to send him back to where he came from so he ran and Pearl was trying to save him but also herself.
Craft and Structure
The words that I had difficulty with were: metamorphosis, cooperation, bonjour, and indifferent. The way I defined these words were by rereading the context clues, finding affixes, choosing whether it has positive or negative connotations, and replacing the word with other possible meanings.
the point of view of this book is frist person this means that the narrower is talking about her thoughts a fellings this helps me because i know how she fells and things that she is thinking about. Something that was interesting was that when her father was talking to her about his new life and how he wanted her in his new life, all she could think about was the bad things that he done to her and her mother when she was younger.
Theme
The theme of this book is that love has consequences and can sometimes have a negative affect on the choices you have to make, like in this book Pearl has to choose to save herself and be with her family or to save the one she loves. In both choices, she could end up without something. If she saves herself, she will not have Amiel and if she saves him, they will both get hurt and one might die. Love has so many consequences. For example when she says, "My phone made its first warning beep, and I ignored it. I knew I had to call my mother again, but I wanted to find Amiel". This shows that she wanted to find Amiel before she was safe with her family.
Characterization
a weakness my character Pearl has is lieing. In this book she lie to her family a lot just so she can be with Amiel.she lies to her uncle nd to her mother. " The Coombs are going to las vegas... "But they've invited me to go with them," I said....if my uncle said somthing about how i was going with themto Las Vegas, i would really have to go, and Amiel would burn to death in the canyon becasue he had no televison, no radio, no phone, and no car."(pages 225 and 226). this shows that she has lied to her unlce and that he think that she has planed to tell him this and for him to belive her and then for her to go and try and save Amiel. In this book she has also lied about her where abouts.she was telling her mom that she was going to this place or she would not tell her at all and she would be at the tree house with Amiel. Another character who also has a weskness is Amiel and his weakness is not beliveing Pearl when she was trying to help him.i think that the authors characteriztion may confus you as the reader becasue for pearl i thought of her as a girl who doesnt lie and do everthing that she is told and she is alway doing the right thing and what she is told. then when you get father in the book you see a different pearl then you was seeing at the beging of the book she someone who want to be happy even if it mean lieing to her family about what she is doing and where she is going.
Conclsion
i would recommend this book to a friend and a family member because this book is a good book and it help me see some things. things like love can change someone to be a different perso and love will make you do thing you would not do. A part that i like in this book was is when Amiel and paerl have their frist kiss. they are playing hide and seek and they meet at the olk tree and then they just kiss. Another part i like is the part when Amiel is not able to talk throught the book and paerl would always try to get hi to talk to him and tel her about himself and his life before he came to Fallbrook.
July 28, 2013
National Book Award nominee, "Dark Water" by Laura McNeal, has been on my "to read" list for some time. I finally got to it and am glad I did. I think I have students who would be a good audience for this book. I am always looking for strong reads for my Hispanic students, and this would fit the bill, but the book really has something for most teens.
After her parents' bitter divorce, Pearl DeWitt and her mother are living with Pearl's uncle on his avocado farm in Fallbrook, California. When fifteen year old Pearl first sees seventeen year old Amiel de la Cruz Guerrero standing on a corner with other men looking for day labor, she is smitten. When one of her Uncle Hoyt's workers is deported, Pearl convinces him to hire Amiel. Pearl is fascinated with Amiel and makes many poor choices to get near him. Even though he knows that their relationship is forbidden, Amiel eventually warms to Pearl. And, as with Romeo and Juliet, tragedy occurs as a result of their love for one another.
Pearl's first person narration allows us to see the multi-faceted aspects of her character. However, we only see what she sees, so other characters remain somewhat flat. My one beef with the book is that Pearl makes so many poor choices that it is hard to like her. She refuses to tell anyone where she is going and what she is thinking. She refuses to respect nature. She refuses to see the danger that she presents both to herself and to Amiel in her pursuit of a relationship with him. I know that the teenage brain is not fully developed, but geez...she does some dumb things that have horrific consequences. And I wish the author had spent more time at the end of the book showing us what Pearl learns for all of this. Yes, she knows she is to blame, but what else?
The setting for "Dark Waters" is almost a character in the story. It reminded me of a fantastic book that I read in S.E.E.D. class several years ago, "Tortilla Curtain" by T.C. Boyle. The "ripped from the headlines" fire danger almost comes alive in the novel. The power of nature, and the teens' lack of respect for it is potent in the story. There are numerous examples of McNeal's use of beautiful imagery throughout the novel. I found myself rereading passages because of her lovely use of language.
"Dark Waters" looks at the important issues of forbidden love, immigration, making good choices, telling the truth, racism, homelessness, divorce, the power of nature, mutism, and much more. Some strong thematic lines include:
page 48 - "What is it about a person that makes him harmless to others and fatal to you, like a bee sting or a trace of peanut butter?" (love the simile here as well)
page 125 - "'Love does much,' she said, 'but money does all.'"
page 171 - Pearl talking about her relationship with Amiel and their kiss, "It wasn't wrong in theory. It wasn't forbidden. But I understood that it was very strange and different, someone like him and someone like me. The people who have nothing aren't allowed to touch the people with cars and houses. They can work here. That's all."
page 248 - "They say that parts of a teenager's brain aren't formed yet. That might have been the problem. I'd like to think that rather than a malignancy of the heart."
page 283 - "...a fault acknowledges is halfway forgiven."
This was a really good read that I can't wait to booktalk with my students! Part romance, part adventure story, it is sure to appeal to both female and male teens. Highly recommended!
After her parents' bitter divorce, Pearl DeWitt and her mother are living with Pearl's uncle on his avocado farm in Fallbrook, California. When fifteen year old Pearl first sees seventeen year old Amiel de la Cruz Guerrero standing on a corner with other men looking for day labor, she is smitten. When one of her Uncle Hoyt's workers is deported, Pearl convinces him to hire Amiel. Pearl is fascinated with Amiel and makes many poor choices to get near him. Even though he knows that their relationship is forbidden, Amiel eventually warms to Pearl. And, as with Romeo and Juliet, tragedy occurs as a result of their love for one another.
Pearl's first person narration allows us to see the multi-faceted aspects of her character. However, we only see what she sees, so other characters remain somewhat flat. My one beef with the book is that Pearl makes so many poor choices that it is hard to like her. She refuses to tell anyone where she is going and what she is thinking. She refuses to respect nature. She refuses to see the danger that she presents both to herself and to Amiel in her pursuit of a relationship with him. I know that the teenage brain is not fully developed, but geez...she does some dumb things that have horrific consequences. And I wish the author had spent more time at the end of the book showing us what Pearl learns for all of this. Yes, she knows she is to blame, but what else?
The setting for "Dark Waters" is almost a character in the story. It reminded me of a fantastic book that I read in S.E.E.D. class several years ago, "Tortilla Curtain" by T.C. Boyle. The "ripped from the headlines" fire danger almost comes alive in the novel. The power of nature, and the teens' lack of respect for it is potent in the story. There are numerous examples of McNeal's use of beautiful imagery throughout the novel. I found myself rereading passages because of her lovely use of language.
"Dark Waters" looks at the important issues of forbidden love, immigration, making good choices, telling the truth, racism, homelessness, divorce, the power of nature, mutism, and much more. Some strong thematic lines include:
page 48 - "What is it about a person that makes him harmless to others and fatal to you, like a bee sting or a trace of peanut butter?" (love the simile here as well)
page 125 - "'Love does much,' she said, 'but money does all.'"
page 171 - Pearl talking about her relationship with Amiel and their kiss, "It wasn't wrong in theory. It wasn't forbidden. But I understood that it was very strange and different, someone like him and someone like me. The people who have nothing aren't allowed to touch the people with cars and houses. They can work here. That's all."
page 248 - "They say that parts of a teenager's brain aren't formed yet. That might have been the problem. I'd like to think that rather than a malignancy of the heart."
page 283 - "...a fault acknowledges is halfway forgiven."
This was a really good read that I can't wait to booktalk with my students! Part romance, part adventure story, it is sure to appeal to both female and male teens. Highly recommended!
October 7, 2010
My thoughts...Dark Water is a book based on actual events. The fires in California are a reality many people deal with regularly. The characters, while fictional, felt very real as did their fear. This story left me with goosebumps.
The beginning of Dark Water started off slow. There was quite a bit of character development and few side stories that distracted me. The love story between Pearl and Amiel took a while to develop and fell a bit short. I would begin to feel a strong pull between the two of them, then it cooled. The characters are not in an ideal situation to develop a relationship. This is a story with forbidden love.
While Dark Water does have some of the elements of a love story, the real action is found in the fire. You know it's coming, you know it's going to be devastating, and you fear it. This book started off slow, then suddenly becomes extremely intense. It was sad, frightening, and exciting all at the same time. The adrenaline of the main characters becomes contagious as you pray for their safety. Then the ending...well, not all stories have a happy ending, especially when you are dealing with real life.
Dark Water is a great book for those who are looking for a realistic YA story. I am glad I stuck with it and finished the book. It gave me a better understanding of fear that victims of these fires experience and it will stick with me for a long time.
The beginning of Dark Water started off slow. There was quite a bit of character development and few side stories that distracted me. The love story between Pearl and Amiel took a while to develop and fell a bit short. I would begin to feel a strong pull between the two of them, then it cooled. The characters are not in an ideal situation to develop a relationship. This is a story with forbidden love.
While Dark Water does have some of the elements of a love story, the real action is found in the fire. You know it's coming, you know it's going to be devastating, and you fear it. This book started off slow, then suddenly becomes extremely intense. It was sad, frightening, and exciting all at the same time. The adrenaline of the main characters becomes contagious as you pray for their safety. Then the ending...well, not all stories have a happy ending, especially when you are dealing with real life.
Dark Water is a great book for those who are looking for a realistic YA story. I am glad I stuck with it and finished the book. It gave me a better understanding of fear that victims of these fires experience and it will stick with me for a long time.
February 6, 2011
The novel, Dark Water by Laura McNeal grabbed my interest after I'd read the short description of the book off of the Barnes and Noble website. However, I was disappointed by the book, overall. The story was slow-moving, predictable, and to be quite frank, dull. Nothing terribly exciting happened,and the most exciting event in the book is given away in the very beginning, which was a poor choice on the writer's behalf. It didn't actually get interesting until around page 220. The only reason I kept reading the book was because I really wanted to get to the climax. As I kept reading, I repeated to myself, "it has to be coming up soon!" I thought the ending of the book was the best part, and I had mixed feelings of relief and disappointment when I reached the last page. I really thought it was going to be better than it was, and I wish I could give it at least three stars, but by doing that I would be saying I actually liked the book, when I honestly did not. It wasn't the worst book I've read, but certainly not the best. McNeal rambles a lot, the plot line was obvious, and unoriginal, the characters not well-developed, and hard to sympathize with. I gave this book a two because it wasn't bad, it just wasn't very good. If your trying to kill some time, give it a shot. I'm sure other people have read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I am not one of those people.
June 26, 2011
Pearl DeWitt lives in California on her uncle's avocado farmer. Amiel is a migrant worker who catches her eye with his miming and juggling skills, and Pearl convinces her uncle to hire him. Amiel doesn't speak, and Pearl is convinced to break through to him, trying to speak to him and leaving him notes, and, once she stumbles across the shack near the river where Amiel is living, visiting him. Frustrated with her life--her father has recently left her mother, leaving Pearl and her mother living in poverty--Pearl pursues this relationship, even though both she and Amiel know it's not one that would be socially acceptable.
I never really connected with the characters in this book; Pearl seemed distant (even though the novel is written in the first person), and I also never really understood her attraction to Amiel. Their relationship just never came alive for me. I think the main thing that kept me reading in this book was the foreshadowing--we find out early on that there's a wildfire and that there are serious consequences, although we don't know what exactly they are,. When they are finally revealed, they provide for what could be an interesting discussion about choices and consequences.
I never really connected with the characters in this book; Pearl seemed distant (even though the novel is written in the first person), and I also never really understood her attraction to Amiel. Their relationship just never came alive for me. I think the main thing that kept me reading in this book was the foreshadowing--we find out early on that there's a wildfire and that there are serious consequences, although we don't know what exactly they are,. When they are finally revealed, they provide for what could be an interesting discussion about choices and consequences.
April 8, 2012
Painful....finishing this book left me feeling a little sick. The writing was beautiful, and that's partly why I kept reading it. The author has a gentle, subtle style, full of meaning and description without being too flowery, The story moved like water, flowing and swift.
The story felt real. I could understand and believe teenagers making the choices that the characters in this book made. That didn't make it any less frustrating to watch it all unfolding. I can't really think about the end of the book, it would make me too upset.
It's not a love story, so don't pick it up thinking that you're getting a romance, no matter what the blurb description of the book leads you to believe. It's about a 15-year-old girl trying to deal with a mass of issues during one summer. She falls in love with a migrant worker, Amiel, which leads her to disaster in the end. I never really understood why she was so attracted to him and I think that is why it felt so believable. It was a straight-up teenage crush and they both behaved like normal teenagers.
I gave it a three because the writing was so beautiful, but if you are looking for something uplifting and fun, don't pick this one up.
The story felt real. I could understand and believe teenagers making the choices that the characters in this book made. That didn't make it any less frustrating to watch it all unfolding. I can't really think about the end of the book, it would make me too upset.
It's not a love story, so don't pick it up thinking that you're getting a romance, no matter what the blurb description of the book leads you to believe. It's about a 15-year-old girl trying to deal with a mass of issues during one summer. She falls in love with a migrant worker, Amiel, which leads her to disaster in the end. I never really understood why she was so attracted to him and I think that is why it felt so believable. It was a straight-up teenage crush and they both behaved like normal teenagers.
I gave it a three because the writing was so beautiful, but if you are looking for something uplifting and fun, don't pick this one up.
September 16, 2017
This book was slow, then sped up, but never got better. Only worse.
It took me a while to get into the story, then as it progressed things got more interesting, and the Pearl, the main character, just got horrible. She made one bad choice after another, only thinking about herself, and honestly, even after the consequences of her choices present themselves, she STILL seems to only be thinking about herself.
She spends a bulk of the book obsessing over one of her Uncle's field workers, who is in California illegally from Mexico. He has an injury that prevents him from speaking without pain, so they barely talk. ( Forget the fact that his English is awful, and she doesn't speak Spanish herself ) But she becomes engulfed by him, and all of her choices revolve around him. She quickly forgets about her friends and family. Even in the wake of a uncontrolled fire, and evacuation.
It was just all too much for me, I didn't really enjoy this book.
It took me a while to get into the story, then as it progressed things got more interesting, and the Pearl, the main character, just got horrible. She made one bad choice after another, only thinking about herself, and honestly, even after the consequences of her choices present themselves, she STILL seems to only be thinking about herself.
She spends a bulk of the book obsessing over one of her Uncle's field workers, who is in California illegally from Mexico. He has an injury that prevents him from speaking without pain, so they barely talk. ( Forget the fact that his English is awful, and she doesn't speak Spanish herself ) But she becomes engulfed by him, and all of her choices revolve around him. She quickly forgets about her friends and family. Even in the wake of a uncontrolled fire, and evacuation.
It was just all too much for me, I didn't really enjoy this book.
February 27, 2013
This book was one of my all time favorites of 7th grade...
It's about a girl who's dad left the family, and her and her mother are living on her uncle's farm. one day, the girl sees a boy about her age juggling, then standing on his head and doing all these cool tricks. she asks her uncle to hire him to help grow/guard avocado trees the uncle grows on his farm. when the uncle hires the boy out of sympathy for the girl, the girl starts to love the boy and write him secret messages because he has a problem with his throat where he can't talk.
i loved this book because it brought so many emotions out and there wasn't one thing i didn't love to read.
i would recommend this book to anyone i pass who asks me for a book. readers who love a little of some flash-forwarding may also like this book.
It's about a girl who's dad left the family, and her and her mother are living on her uncle's farm. one day, the girl sees a boy about her age juggling, then standing on his head and doing all these cool tricks. she asks her uncle to hire him to help grow/guard avocado trees the uncle grows on his farm. when the uncle hires the boy out of sympathy for the girl, the girl starts to love the boy and write him secret messages because he has a problem with his throat where he can't talk.
i loved this book because it brought so many emotions out and there wasn't one thing i didn't love to read.
i would recommend this book to anyone i pass who asks me for a book. readers who love a little of some flash-forwarding may also like this book.
March 14, 2011
This has been said in many reviews, but I feel I should say it too. This is not a Forbidden romance kind of YA book. It's realistic YA.
The book left me emotional drained, which I was not expecting. I knew I'd be sad by the end because of other reviews, but it was much deeper then I thought it was going to be.
June 28, 2011
I read this as part of the Nerds Heart YA book challenge. It had been on my reading list for a little bit, but I wouldn't have expected to get as wrapped up as I did. McNeal's story alternates between velvet and sandpaper -- drawing you in with soft touches and descriptions of a lazy, languid world, and then rips you up with Pearl's headstrong decisions and awful hindsight. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this read and am so happy that my partner and I decided to move it along to the next round.
October 12, 2010
Pearl finds herself drawn into the world of a homeless migrant worker, and begins to lie and scheme up ways for them to secretly meet - despite knowing that no one would understand her feelings for a Mexican who is from a different social class, especially her mother. It was pretty good. A little unrealistic at times, but a good storyline.
January 17, 2011
Eileen Stevens does a good job reading. The story is well written. The characters are well developed and descriptions of the community and surrounding area are interesting. The story is the problem. The central character is just to clueless to sympathize with. She enters into an improbable romance that degenerates from disaster to tragedy.
April 10, 2019
“I wondered if it was normal to worry about sex things while you were also worrying about burning alive.”
No. No it’s not normal. But like most of what the main character does in this novel, it is stupid. And self-centered. And just incredibly dumb writing.
No. No it’s not normal. But like most of what the main character does in this novel, it is stupid. And self-centered. And just incredibly dumb writing.
March 23, 2011
This is a terrible book. I do not understand why it was nominated for an award. The book has no plot. It just rambles on but never starts anything. Waste of time.
December 21, 2016
I didn't really like this book. It just was not for me.
May 19, 2011
Beautifully written, very sad, not a love story despite what the blurb says!
November 12, 2017
I thought that Dark Water by Laura McNeal was just an all around average book. Although McNeal's writing was very eloquent, there was nothing that really made this book stand out from the same story in every other young adult novel: a forbidden love story.
Dark water is the story of a fifteen-year-old girl, Pearl DeWitt, over one Summer. The norm of her life consists of this: she lives with her mother, her uncle and his wife and her cousin Robby on her uncle's avocado grove. Throughout the Summer, Pearl becomes dazzled by one of the migrant workers on the grove, Amiel. She makes constant efforts, without her family's knowing, to seek out Amiel. But when a large forest fire begins to consume their town, and everyone is sent for emergency evacuation, Pearl's feelings for Amiel get in the way; she knows that he will not be able to hear the news of the fire and risks hers and others' lives by remaining in Fallbrook during the fire.
I felt like the beginning of the book dragged on alot. The first two chapters are used as introduction, and the recollection of the story does not begin until chapter nine. However, again in the beginning of chapter four the author switches back to the present tense for a little and then straight back to the recollection. "The avocado grove looks nothing like it did that day. Nine hundred of [uncle] Hoyt's trees burned in the Agua Priea fire. ... But on that April day the trees outside the guesthouse spread their green fluttering limbs high above my head" (38-39). I wouldn't call this foreshadowing because it isn't hinting at what is to come, it is literally stating it, but I don't think it was necessary to add this contrast in the story because it just jumps around too much for readers.
During the beginning of the book, it seems like readers are taken through every. single. day. of. the. summer. with. Pearl. The obvious climax of the book, as stated in all of the summaries, is the fire. There is no mention of the fire until page 215 out of 285. Quite honestly, I forgot that the summary mentioned a fire. The book had taken so long to get to the point that I already forgot what the point was and was taken by suprise!
Even though the structure of this story was very poor, I do applaud McNeal's humor. The fact that Robby and Pearl usually communicate in their own version of "franglish" (French/English) is a great use of comedic relief and is written well to show how comfortable the two cousins were with each other; " 'Want some le crackers?' I asked" (25), " 'Bonjour le you,' he wrote. 'France is le bon. Plan is going tres bien so far. Will parlez-vous when we get back' Robby" (196).
Another failed attempt I think McNeal had was with Pearl's distinct Heterochromia (two different colored eyes). This was mentioned in both summaries of the book: back cover and front inside cover. I was led to believe that this would greatly impact either Pearl's character or a major event in the book but it was only glossed over or mentioned a few times which just left me confused: did the author mean to make this more of a big deal? Should this have somehow sculpted Pearl's character more? Or did the author just want to add something unique to her character?
I thought that Dark Water by Laura McNeal was an okay read. Yes, I found there to be many flaws in the story but once you get over each of those, it was a mediocre book.
Dark water is the story of a fifteen-year-old girl, Pearl DeWitt, over one Summer. The norm of her life consists of this: she lives with her mother, her uncle and his wife and her cousin Robby on her uncle's avocado grove. Throughout the Summer, Pearl becomes dazzled by one of the migrant workers on the grove, Amiel. She makes constant efforts, without her family's knowing, to seek out Amiel. But when a large forest fire begins to consume their town, and everyone is sent for emergency evacuation, Pearl's feelings for Amiel get in the way; she knows that he will not be able to hear the news of the fire and risks hers and others' lives by remaining in Fallbrook during the fire.
I felt like the beginning of the book dragged on alot. The first two chapters are used as introduction, and the recollection of the story does not begin until chapter nine. However, again in the beginning of chapter four the author switches back to the present tense for a little and then straight back to the recollection. "The avocado grove looks nothing like it did that day. Nine hundred of [uncle] Hoyt's trees burned in the Agua Priea fire. ... But on that April day the trees outside the guesthouse spread their green fluttering limbs high above my head" (38-39). I wouldn't call this foreshadowing because it isn't hinting at what is to come, it is literally stating it, but I don't think it was necessary to add this contrast in the story because it just jumps around too much for readers.
During the beginning of the book, it seems like readers are taken through every. single. day. of. the. summer. with. Pearl. The obvious climax of the book, as stated in all of the summaries, is the fire. There is no mention of the fire until page 215 out of 285. Quite honestly, I forgot that the summary mentioned a fire. The book had taken so long to get to the point that I already forgot what the point was and was taken by suprise!
Even though the structure of this story was very poor, I do applaud McNeal's humor. The fact that Robby and Pearl usually communicate in their own version of "franglish" (French/English) is a great use of comedic relief and is written well to show how comfortable the two cousins were with each other; " 'Want some le crackers?' I asked" (25), " 'Bonjour le you,' he wrote. 'France is le bon. Plan is going tres bien so far. Will parlez-vous when we get back' Robby" (196).
Another failed attempt I think McNeal had was with Pearl's distinct Heterochromia (two different colored eyes). This was mentioned in both summaries of the book: back cover and front inside cover. I was led to believe that this would greatly impact either Pearl's character or a major event in the book but it was only glossed over or mentioned a few times which just left me confused: did the author mean to make this more of a big deal? Should this have somehow sculpted Pearl's character more? Or did the author just want to add something unique to her character?
I thought that Dark Water by Laura McNeal was an okay read. Yes, I found there to be many flaws in the story but once you get over each of those, it was a mediocre book.
June 28, 2011
Reviewed by Rusty Key Writer: Jordan B. Nielsen
Recommended for: Ages 15 and Up for mild teen sexuality. The female main character and romantic plot line will likely make this work best suited to young women.
One Word Summary: Ferocious.
This is a moment in which my disdain for hyperbole and exclamation marks hinders me, because Laura McNeal’s Dark Water is one of those shout from the rooftops kind of books. It’s a work that makes excellence look so simple and effortless you wonder why everyone can’t do it. Alright, I’m sorry, I just have to let it out. Here goes:
OH MY GOD YOU GUYS, THIS BOOK IS SO GOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that that’s out of my system, lets talk about why this book deserves twenty-five exclamation marks, as well as the spot in our Golden Key Collection that it has been awarded. Dark Water is the first person narrative of Pearl DeWitt, a fifteen-year-old girl living with her mother on her uncle’s avocado farm in southern California. The story is told in past tense, and we immediately learn that from the time in which
Pearl is speaking to us, the avocado farm has burned to cinders, and the boy she loved, Amiel, is “gone”. McNeal teases these little bombshells throughout the narrative, like an ominous whiff of smoke on a bright spring breeze. Pearl’s tale begins on the day she first sees Amiel, a young, Mexican, illegal migrant worker entertaining a group of day laborers with his goofy miming and juggling skills. From the instant she views him through the car window, something in Pearl’s mind fuses to him. Days later she manages to slyly convince her uncle Hoyt to hire the guy she saw on the roadside to replace one of his workers who was captured and deported by border security. Though eager to learn more about him, she comes to find that Amiel lost his voice in an accident of some nature, and can only communicate in scratchy whispers, hand gestures, and a little scrawled Spanish.
Every one of their encounters is essentially forbidden by the invisible yet potent barrier that separates the illegal migrant workers from the
white people who take them on. It’s simply not done, that a teenage girl might carry on a relationship with one of the Hispanic hired hands, a prejudice echoing back to the segregationist south. But while Pearl’s pursual of Amiel means she must bare the burden of lying to everyone she knows, for Amiel, the consequences are far more grave and he flees from her advances like a startled deer. But as the costs of her feelings for the mysterious boy begin to grow, so too does the tenderness and intimacy of the relationship between them.
I believed that the metaphorical book on Romeo and Juliet had been written, but McNeal has proven me sorely wrong with this entirely fresh take on a taboo love story that is anything but derivative. The forbiddenness of their encounters blisters with tension and passion. So heavy is the pressure of their secrecy that you’re tempted to read in a whisper tone lest someone might overhear your thoughts.
We have Pearl to thank for this rapture. It’s from her perspective that we view this love story, and the realism and authority of her depiction is what makes it work. Though she was so unwaveringly and instantly drawn to Amiel, so unblinkingly assured of her conviction, and so utterly relentless in her pursuit of him, even in the face of painful rejections, I never once doubted or questioned her feelings.
McNeal is a clever architect and her mode is minimalism. The common thread amongst all of the love stories I’ve despised is the feeling that the author is jamming it down your throat. Every author knows that the success of a romance hinges upon making the reader feel the heat between the characters, and you see the stress fractures most evidently in overwrought emotions, saccharine dialogue, and overblown fantasy scenarios. McNeal’s staggering accomplishment is that she created a small universe that exists entirely independently of the reader’s opinions or expectations. She is at times lush and vibrant with her word play, then spare and direct with her imagery and themes. In all cases, she gives you just enough to pull you in and then leaves you mercifully free to breathe within her story. This is perhaps most evident in her genius stroke of keeping Amiel, our story’s reluctant romantic hero, virtually mute, as it prevents him from saying anything stupid, clichéd or dislikable. The reader is then free to project their own romantic fantasies upon him and it becomes so much easier to fall in love with him, as Pearl did, and to feel for him with her level of ferocity.
And then there are side characters! How perfectly lovely to have a love story with side characters of significance. While the clandestine nature of Pearl’s meetings with Amiel builds tension in the story, what really cranks up the burner is the isolationism in Pearl’s life. She is at that pivotal moment when friendships begin to thin out as lives become more complicated, and when adults no longer seem like the people with all the answers. It would be giving too much away to go into all the plot details, but suffice to say, there is as much richness in Pearl’s relationships with the other people in her life as there is in her relationship with Amiel.
The ending lives up to its ominous foreshadowing; a choking, claustrophobic showdown between Pearl’s desires and her responsibilities, set off against a burning landscape. The denouement cries out for an encore, one I would burn through faster than a book in a furnace, but with a work of such perfection it would almost seem a crime to hang another bauble from it. Go buy Dark Water before I have to switch into caps lock again.
For more reviews from The Rusty Key, visit us at www.therustykey.com
Recommended for: Ages 15 and Up for mild teen sexuality. The female main character and romantic plot line will likely make this work best suited to young women.
One Word Summary: Ferocious.
This is a moment in which my disdain for hyperbole and exclamation marks hinders me, because Laura McNeal’s Dark Water is one of those shout from the rooftops kind of books. It’s a work that makes excellence look so simple and effortless you wonder why everyone can’t do it. Alright, I’m sorry, I just have to let it out. Here goes:
OH MY GOD YOU GUYS, THIS BOOK IS SO GOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that that’s out of my system, lets talk about why this book deserves twenty-five exclamation marks, as well as the spot in our Golden Key Collection that it has been awarded. Dark Water is the first person narrative of Pearl DeWitt, a fifteen-year-old girl living with her mother on her uncle’s avocado farm in southern California. The story is told in past tense, and we immediately learn that from the time in which
Pearl is speaking to us, the avocado farm has burned to cinders, and the boy she loved, Amiel, is “gone”. McNeal teases these little bombshells throughout the narrative, like an ominous whiff of smoke on a bright spring breeze. Pearl’s tale begins on the day she first sees Amiel, a young, Mexican, illegal migrant worker entertaining a group of day laborers with his goofy miming and juggling skills. From the instant she views him through the car window, something in Pearl’s mind fuses to him. Days later she manages to slyly convince her uncle Hoyt to hire the guy she saw on the roadside to replace one of his workers who was captured and deported by border security. Though eager to learn more about him, she comes to find that Amiel lost his voice in an accident of some nature, and can only communicate in scratchy whispers, hand gestures, and a little scrawled Spanish.
Every one of their encounters is essentially forbidden by the invisible yet potent barrier that separates the illegal migrant workers from the
white people who take them on. It’s simply not done, that a teenage girl might carry on a relationship with one of the Hispanic hired hands, a prejudice echoing back to the segregationist south. But while Pearl’s pursual of Amiel means she must bare the burden of lying to everyone she knows, for Amiel, the consequences are far more grave and he flees from her advances like a startled deer. But as the costs of her feelings for the mysterious boy begin to grow, so too does the tenderness and intimacy of the relationship between them.
I believed that the metaphorical book on Romeo and Juliet had been written, but McNeal has proven me sorely wrong with this entirely fresh take on a taboo love story that is anything but derivative. The forbiddenness of their encounters blisters with tension and passion. So heavy is the pressure of their secrecy that you’re tempted to read in a whisper tone lest someone might overhear your thoughts.
We have Pearl to thank for this rapture. It’s from her perspective that we view this love story, and the realism and authority of her depiction is what makes it work. Though she was so unwaveringly and instantly drawn to Amiel, so unblinkingly assured of her conviction, and so utterly relentless in her pursuit of him, even in the face of painful rejections, I never once doubted or questioned her feelings.
McNeal is a clever architect and her mode is minimalism. The common thread amongst all of the love stories I’ve despised is the feeling that the author is jamming it down your throat. Every author knows that the success of a romance hinges upon making the reader feel the heat between the characters, and you see the stress fractures most evidently in overwrought emotions, saccharine dialogue, and overblown fantasy scenarios. McNeal’s staggering accomplishment is that she created a small universe that exists entirely independently of the reader’s opinions or expectations. She is at times lush and vibrant with her word play, then spare and direct with her imagery and themes. In all cases, she gives you just enough to pull you in and then leaves you mercifully free to breathe within her story. This is perhaps most evident in her genius stroke of keeping Amiel, our story’s reluctant romantic hero, virtually mute, as it prevents him from saying anything stupid, clichéd or dislikable. The reader is then free to project their own romantic fantasies upon him and it becomes so much easier to fall in love with him, as Pearl did, and to feel for him with her level of ferocity.
And then there are side characters! How perfectly lovely to have a love story with side characters of significance. While the clandestine nature of Pearl’s meetings with Amiel builds tension in the story, what really cranks up the burner is the isolationism in Pearl’s life. She is at that pivotal moment when friendships begin to thin out as lives become more complicated, and when adults no longer seem like the people with all the answers. It would be giving too much away to go into all the plot details, but suffice to say, there is as much richness in Pearl’s relationships with the other people in her life as there is in her relationship with Amiel.
The ending lives up to its ominous foreshadowing; a choking, claustrophobic showdown between Pearl’s desires and her responsibilities, set off against a burning landscape. The denouement cries out for an encore, one I would burn through faster than a book in a furnace, but with a work of such perfection it would almost seem a crime to hang another bauble from it. Go buy Dark Water before I have to switch into caps lock again.
For more reviews from The Rusty Key, visit us at www.therustykey.com
June 5, 2022
Dark Waters may be a "forbidden romance" at the surface, but it goes so much deeper. Pearl struggles the whole book to discover what love is. Her parents separated and her dad is very mysterious. Her cousin found her uncle cheating on his gorgeous wife. And then there's Amiel, who is an illegal immigrant with no family. Because Pearl has no idea what love is, she jumps right into a relationship at 15 and has no idea what it means. However, Pearl and Amiel's friendship is amazing and the other supporting characters really add to the story. The ending, though sad, makes the story different from all other love stories. My favorite line come from a children's poem, "going on a bear hunt. We're not afraid. What a wonderful day!" This really adds to the fire scene. Overall, 4.25 stars.
August 26, 2017
I'm frustrated and mad at Pearl for how she behaved, but if I read a story about my own life at that age and the decisions I made, I'd probably be mad at my character too. I wouldn't say I "enjoyed" this book, but it was meaningful to me and took me back to a time when being a teenager was confusing and real. When you have a teen daughter yourself like I do, it's good to remember what that is like.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews