Jim Lynch’s The Highest Tide is actually on the same wave length with Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. Both of them are “Literatures” (mark my capital L) and interesting and for kids and also mature reader-friendly.
It tells about the protagonist’s conflicts during three summer weeks. During t his time, he has to struggle with his parents’ pre-divorce relationship, his hidden love to his ex-baby sitter cum neighbor who prepares herself for college, and he also faces his sudden fame after finding a dead giant squid and another giant fish and attracting media’s and people’s attention with his mastery of marine biology as he reads from Rachel Carson’s works.
The Highest Tide shows a great mastery of the art of thrilling on the writer’s part. By thrilling, I don’t mean even a bit to compare it with that of James Patterson. But, it’s Jim Lynch’s ability to keep readers attached to the pages of his novel and keep expecting to know the climax and resolution. Readers are kept expecting whether the highest tide, as the protagonist’s friend foretells, will come. And, as usual, in the name of shockability, I won’t tell you the answer.
Last but not least, I just want to conclude that this book really rocks. It entertains us as we read and it makes us contemplate on its truths after we end it. This is a true literature presented in a very enjoyable way, it enlightens as well as entertains.
