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Canada’s most beloved children’s author
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What was it Sam discovered? And can Paul and Monica get to him before the dead water zone overpowers everyone who dares enter it?

 

Something wonderful is going to happen," Sam told Paul over the phone...

But he wouldn't explain, wouldn't tell his brother what he had found in the water. "Come down," he tells Paul. But when 16-year-old Paul arrives in Watertown, a polluted slum afloat in the city's harbour, Sam has disappeared. Why?

With the help of Monica, a mysterious girl who has her own reasons for finding Sam, Paul searches desperately for his younger brother, and encounters people who will stop at nothing to deter him from his quest.

What was it Sam discovered? And can Paul and Monica get to him before the dead water zone overpowers everyone who dares enter it?

 
 
 


Reviews

Reviews

"This compelling novel explores the relationship between two brothers who are opposites… Once you're hooked you won't be able to put it down until the end." 

– Voice of Youth Advocates 

"A chilling sci-fi novel…. Tension mounts and the drama plays out to a grand conclusion." 

– The Horn Book 

"Weaving thematic threads of sibling rivalry and affection, a Faustian motif, high adventure, and of course, the power of true love, Oppel's prose rarely falters, despite his occasional flirtation with melodrama. The dialogue is swift and rings true. Some of the characters would fit perfectly into a Dickensian underworld and the cumulative effect of all these riches is a novel of striking impact."

– The Globe & Mail

"Oppel has crafted a superior science-fiction novel set in the near future… Everything about this novel is believable: the characters and their motivations, the development of their relationships, even the non-Hollywood conclusion. Readers are left with satisfaction that the mystery has been solved, but are not placated with a hurry-up happy ending. An excellent bridge to the works of Ray Bradbury and Frank Herbert."

– School Library Journal (starred review) 

"Oppel has crafted a superior science-fiction novel set in the near future… Everything about this novel is believable: the characters and their motivations, the development of their relationships, even the non-Hollywood conclusion. Readers are left with satisfaction that the mystery has been solved, but are not placated with a hurry-up happy ending. An excellent bridge to the works of Ray Bradbury and Frank Herbert."

– School Library Journal (starred review)