The Highest Tide

In the middle of a moonlit night, thirteen-year-old Miles O'Malley packs up his kayak and goes exploring. Miles is obsessed with the writings of Rachel Carson and loves to look for starfish, snails, crabs and clams on his local beach. As he forages on this extraordinary night he comes across an unusual sight. His heart pounds as he moves closer to a huge, breathing beast. Then he realises that a shiny black disc the size of a hubcap is an eye belonging to a giant squid. It is a remarkable occurrence. Miles becomes a local celebrity, chased by TV crews hoping that this intelligent boy can make sense of the phenomenon, while the sea continues to throw out mysteries from its depths. His psychic friend Florence predicts that earthquakes and more amazing discoveries will precede the highest tide in fifty years in September, which will hold life-changing events for Miles. But Miles is more worried that ageing Florence will be put in a home, that the passion for his ex-babysitter Angie will go unrequited, that his parents will divorce, and that everything, even the bay, is shifting from him. His goal this summer is to stop things from changing. As the sea scatters exotic shells, bones and seaweed on the sand, this gripping story of obsession, beauty and the wonders of the sea intoxicates the reader with its humour and tragedy as this young boy comes of age in a summer never to be forgotten.