Across the Risen Sea (Bren MacDibble, A&U)

Across the Risen Sea is the latest thoughtful yet action-packed adventure from Bren MacDibble, the award-winning author of How to Bee and The Dog Runner. The success of those two titles could have been difficult to follow, but this novel for middle-grade readers ticks all the same boxes while also managing to be wildly different. Neoma and her best friend Jag live gentle lives among their small community, surrounded by a risen sea that has caused widespread upheaval. When strangers arrive unannounced, a web of secrecy is revealed and a daring solo mission must be undertaken in order to uncover the truth. The colloquial language used in this novel helps set the devastating scene, and the world-building is incredibly rich in detail. Pirates, crocodiles and sharks roam the vast water and create havoc for our brave, loyal narrator. This, coupled with some of the darker overarching themes and nerve-racking hurdles faced by Neoma, means the story is best suited to more mature minds in the middle-grade readership. MacDibble writes about climate change and the environment in a way that is foreboding but not didactic. Across the Risen Sea offers its readers a thrilling escapade while also posing bigger questions about the future of our world.

Karys McEwen is the library manager at Prahran and Richmond High School and the president of the CBCA VIC Branch.

Category: Reviews