Grimsdon

by Deborah Abela

Random House Australia. Australian, Junior, Adventure. Paperback rrp $16.95

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

The city of Grimsdon is under water and three years after the flood, the ‘sneaker waves’ continue to roll in.

Isabella Charm, her best friend, Griffin, twins, Raffy and Bea, and Fly, the girl who never speaks, live in a palatial half-submerged old building. Every day is a struggle to survive - they scrounge for food, brave the dangerous flying fox and dare the waves in a flimsy dinghy – yet the children are happy with each other. Their home furnishings are the stuff of fairytales as they play dress up and act out stories.

But change is on its way - through the air, across the harbour and from under the sea. Dashing Xavier flies in on his aerotrope to admire Isabella and challenge Griffin’s role in the family of children. The ‘harbour master’,

 Byron P Sneddon, makes new and greater demands on the children – including one for the aerotrope. And there just might be a sea monster lurking in the deeps, the dreaded Skelene.

This is a story of magnificent scope. A film waiting to happen. Readers will be drawn, dripping wet, through the wonderful world of Grimsdon. Fast paced, imaginative and with just a touch of romance, this book will equally appeal to boys and girls.

http://www.deborahabela.com/