Race to the Bottom of the Sea

Race to the Bottom of the Sea
by Lindsay Eagar
Candlewick, 2017. Fiction. 423 p.
Fidelia Quail is totally happy living with her marine biologist parents. Even though she is only 11, she does her own field studies and even invents new technology to help with the work. Then one day her parents parish in a storm while in a submarine Fidelia designed. Fidelia hardly has time to mourn before she is captured by some pirates who want her to use her inventions to get a treasure that has fallen to the bottom of a bay. At first Fidelia is terrified, but after a while she begins to see that there is more to her captors than she had first supposed.

This was a remarkably original and emotionally complicated story. It reminded me a little of Holes by Louis Sachar. There are two stories going on in the narrative. One is Fidelia's story and one is a story that began years before about the pirate and his lost love. Eagar fleshes out all the characters and shows how heroes can be villains, and villains can be heroic. Readers should beware that there is some Biblical swearing in this one, as well as pirate violence and plenty of fish guts. If anyone is a Pirates of the Caribbean fan, or just want a swashbuckling adventure, this one is definitely a good choice.

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