THE HIGHEST TIDE
By Jim Lynch
Bloomsbury, 2005
Category: Young Adult/Adult Novel
Flotsam and ocean conservation provide backdrop for THE HIGHEST TIDE, so how could I resist it? The protagonist, thirteen year-old Myles O’Malley, is an avid beachcomber with a penchant for Rachel Carson and a crush on the girl next door. During one unforgettable summer, Myles must contend with alarming changes in his parents, his best friend (an elderly psychic) and the Puget Sound tidal flats he has grown up exploring. Myles’ coming-of-age story is vivid and compelling; Jim Lynch’s writing is flawless. I highly recommend this book … even if you aren’t into flotsam.
I have an interesting connection to THE HIGHEST TIDE. While researching TRACKING TRASH in 2005, I interviewed Alan Rammer*, a marine conservation specialist with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. During the course of our conversations, Alan mentioned that he had consulted with another author, whose debut novel would feature some of the debris I was writing about. The author was Jim Lynch, of course, and the novel was THE HIGHEST TIDE. I read the book as soon as it hit the shelves in late 2005. When it was released in paperback earlier this year I bought it and I re-read it. This hard-core library girl with a towering To Read stack cannot offer any higher praise than that.
*Literary trivia: Alan Rammer appears in THE HIGHEST TIDE (in the form of character Professor Kramer) and in TRACKING TRASH (in a picture in Chapter 4). Useless trivia, perhaps, but pretty cool nonetheless.