Thicker Than Water

Volume XXV / Issue 20 - February 1 / 2019
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Thicker Than Water

Author: 
Natasha Deen
Series: 
Orca Soundings
Victoria, BC: Orca, 2019
137 pp., pbk., pdf & epub, $9.95 (pbk.)
ISBN: 
978-1-4598-2198-9 (pbk.)
978-1-4598-2199-6 (pdf)
978-1-4598-2200-9 (epub)
Grades: 
Grades 7-10
Ages: 
Ages 12-15
Review by: 
Ruth McMahon (Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy)
3
Excerpt: 

I jump up from the couch and stumble to the door. I nod at the officer, grateful my long hair hangs over my eyes. I don’t want him to see the fear in them. It’s a weird thing, wanting him here at the same time I wish he’d go away.

“Hi, Detective Tyron.”

“Hi Zack. Are your folks home?”

When I nod, he pushes his bulk through the doorway and stands in the hall.

“Uh, my mom’s here.” I close the door, then flick my hair out of my face. “Mom!” I call. “A cop wants to talk to you.”

“Actually, buddy, it’s you I want to talk to. But you’re only seventeen, so I need your mom around.”

Does he know that I know more about Ella’s disappearance than I’m admitting? “Oh, yeah, sure. Come into the kitchen.” I smile back at him, but it’s not a real smile.

Mom wipes her hands on a dish towel. The question is in her eyes.

“Detective Tyron.” The officer holds out his hand.

She takes it. “Rabia Bernard.”

“I’m one of the leads on the Ella Larson case.”

My mom’s face crumples. “So it is official? She really is missing?”

Zack’s friend Ella is missing, and Zack knows more than he has shared with the police. He is caught between loyalty to his best friend Ella and to his father. Based on circumstantial evidence, Zack believes his father is implicated in Ella’s disappearance.

The teens in this story show far more integrity and maturity than do the adults. Zack’s dad, a school counsellor, is covering-up his extramarital affair. Zack misinterprets his father’s actions, believing his father is distancing himself from him because his father knows Ella’s whereabouts.
Ella’s parents are not on speaking terms and use Ella as a pawn. Her father takes her to their family cabin saying he will contact Ella’s mother (as there is no cell service at the cabin). He does not contact Ella’s mother which leads all to believe Ella is missing under mysterious circumstances. Her mother is blinded to Ella’s possible situation by her dedication to Ella.

Zack’s passion for crime shows on television encourages him to attempt to solve the mystery of Ella’s disappearance, with help from Ayo, his friend.

As is consistent with the “Orca Soundings” series, Thicker Than Water is plot-driven. There are enough dead ends and twists in the plot, coupled with the frequent use of dialogue, to keep readers turning pages. It is up to the teens in this story to take the moral high road and lead the adults down the just path. The characters’ actions serve the plot, and settings will be easily recognizable to the intended audience.

The relentless action in Thicker Than Water will keep readers engaged. The moral pitfalls will present good discussion opportunities.

Recommended
Reviewer: 

Ruth McMahon is a professional librarian working in a high school library in Lethbridge, Alberta.