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A.Z. McKinney is on the shores of greatness. Now all she needs is a boat.
When the Sea of Santiago appeared overnight in a cow pasture in Arkansas, it seemed, to some, a religious miracle. But to high school sophomore A.Z. McKinney, it's marked her chance to make history—as its first oceanographer. All she needs is to get out on the water.
Her plan is easier said than done, considering the Sea's eccentric owner is only interested in its use as a tourist destination for beachgoers and devout pilgrims. Still, A.Z. is determined to uncover the secrets of the Sea—even if it means smuggling saline samples in her bathing suit.
Yet when a cute, conceptual artist named Kristoff moves to town, A.Z. realizes she may have found a first mate. Together, they make a plan to build a boat and study the Sea in secret. But from fighting with her best friend to searching for a tourist-terrorizing alligator (that may or may not be a crocodile), distractions are everywhere. Soon, A.Z.'s dreams are in danger of being dashed upon the shore of Mud Beach.
With her self-determined oceanic destiny on the line, A.Z. finds herself at odds with everything she thought she knew about life, love, and the Sea. To get what she wants, she'll have to decide whether to sink or float . . . But which one comes first?
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 7, 2017 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781510717299
- File size: 963 KB
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781510717299
- File size: 961 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from February 1, 2017
Teague's debut novel masterfully chronicles the friction, contradictions, and emotional tsunamis of being an intelligent 14-year-old girl. Enter A.Z., Teague's young protagonist. The daughter of a librarian and an actor turned journalist, A.Z. is wise beyond the four walls of her tiny Arkansas high school. She's going to be an oceanographer. To gain admission to the prestigious Sea Camp, she designs an experiment to test the salinization of the local sea. Twenty years before A.Z. was born, a spell of rain and divine intervention left a giant, inexplicable, salty sea in the middle of Arkansas. A.Z. wants nothing more than to dive into its depths, but she is constantly thwarted by Fundamentalist Christians trying to protect their modern miracle. A.Z. is further veered off course by the inescapable trials of being a teenage girl. Her friends are changing, and a hot new boy called Kristoff moves to town and takes an interest in her research. Although A.Z. is one smart and self-assured young cookie, she's not immune to the magnetic pull of clammy teenage romance. Teague's ear for dialogue and natural poetic narrative shine. Author also of the poetry collection Wise and Foolish Builders (2015), Teague is a strong feminist penman to watch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)
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