The Tide Knot

January 1, 2008
For Sapphire, life on the Cornish coast is a balancing act: living on land with her brother, mom, and new stepdad but still hearing the call of her Mer blood to plunge into the sea. That balance is upset when the Tide Knot, a mystical underwater force, loosens and threatens to allow the undersea world of Ingo to break its bonds and overrun the land. Sapphire's father -- believed to have drowned -- returns secretly, transformed into one of the Mer, to warn Sapphire of the impending cataclysm; instead, she enters Ingo to try to rescue him from his Mer captivity and ends up learning about his new Mer family. A terrifying tidal surge leaves Sapphire's town underwater and propels the action to a thought-provoking climax. Supporting the brightly adventurous plot are believably flawed and conflicted characters, who savor the thrill of dolphin rides and shudder at sharks yet dip easily at times into deeper, more elemental magic. Less thematically tight than its predecessor Ingo (rev. 9/06), The Tide Knot still works at the tangle of how we manage contradictions within our own nature, threading all with the grandeur of the sea.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2008
Sapphire (Ingo) lives on land with her family but hears the call of her Mer blood. That balance is upset when the Tide Knot, a mystical underwater force, threatens Sapphire's town. Supported by believably conflicted characters and set against the grandeur of the sea, the story works at the tangle of how we manage contradictions within our own nature.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

February 1, 2008
Gr 5-8-Sapphire and Conor recently discovered a magnificent underwater world in "Ingo" (HarperCollins, 2006), and now their part-mermaid or "Mer" blood is calling them back again. Having recently lost their father to the irresistible call of the sea, Sapphire is desperate to establish contact with him, wherever he is. When her transformed Mer father does at last appear to her, he warns of an impending danger to the humans on the land. Now the siblings must find a way to turn back the tide on the Cornish coast of England before the uncontrollable oceans destroy everything they know and love. Dunmore offers a more mature and thoughtful view of mermaids and their culture than most of the other fantasy series for kids. Strong characters and a consistently enticing plot make this a cut above the rest. The book also presents a neat parable of adolescence: not feeling comfortable in your own skin coupled with the desire to test boundaries. Sapphire's inner struggle over where she belongs, on the land or in the sea, remains unresolved and will undoubtedly leave readers anxious for the final book in the trilogy."Elizabeth Bird, New York Public Library"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.