Strong Like the Sea
by Wendy S. Swore
Shadow Mountain, 2021. 295 pages.
Review written September 26, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
Set in Hawaii on the island of Oahu, this is the story of 12-year-old Alexis, who loves to do puzzles and wants to win her school’s history project competition, but who is currently afraid of the ocean because of a bad experience. Alexis’s dad teaches diving lessons, but her mother is a codebreaker who’s currently deployed on a submarine somewhere far away. But Mom has left intriguing puzzles and codes for Alexis, leading to a prize.
The fun of this book is that there are some truly cool puzzles for Alexis to follow. There’s also a cipher in the book for the reader to solve (with the code spelled out in the back). Alexis does her history project on Mavis Batey, a codebreaker from World War II, which ties in with the other puzzles.
Along the way, Alexis must deal with her father’s schedules (will there be enough time to make an awesome project *and* solve Mom’s puzzles?) and her own fear of the ocean. And then there’s a typhoon in the Pacific and Mom doesn’t connect for their weekly call.
This is a fun book for budding code breakers and puzzle solvers, with a nice taste of Oahu thrown in.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/strong_like_the_sea.html
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