What the Waves Know

December 1, 2015
In a novel rich in mythology and childhood secrets, a girl searches for her voice in the Rhode Island town where she stopped speaking at age 6. Eight years after her father disappeared on her birthday, Izabella Haywood is still writing on notepads to avoid speaking the truth about what happened. Inside her head we catch glimpses of a creative but troubled man who hunts for fairies late at night, who fights with Izabella's mother constantly, and who ultimately leaves his daughter and wife behind. Viewed through the lens of a child who was too young to understand what she saw that night, the question of why is especially poignant--and the answer is hidden in plain sight. The book is mostly set in the summer of 1974, and its historical details, such as an outdated film title on a marquee, gently place Izabella's memories in a not-too-distant past where missing persons make the nightly news. For Izabella, the truth might still be lying around the house if she knows where to look. On Tillings Island, the locals are preparing for their annual festival to celebrate the African ocean goddess Yemaya, and the loose spirituality that permeates the community echoes the dreamlike quality of Izabella's thoughts. But normalcy beckons to Izabella as she reconnects with Grandma Jo, whose braless joie de vivre presents a cheerful foil to the cold war brewing between Izabella and her mother. The family dog, Luke, also whimpers and nuzzles his way through Izabella's silence with surprising force. When the truth finally emerges, Izabella's heartfelt revelation puts sharply into focus the unspoken terror of being a child in an unpredictable world. This dreamy coming-of-age mystery unfolds in tantalizing waves with keen insight and lush prose.

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December 1, 2015

In this evocative novel, an angry six-year-old Izabella yells at her father for ruining her birthday. He speeds off into the night, never to return. Eight years later, Iz hasn't spoken since, her voice silenced for fear of what else her words may break. She and her mother return to Tillings Island, in the hopes that coming home will help bring Iz back to herself. The problem is, everyone there seems to know the story of her father's disappearance better than she does. It isn't until the town's annual festival honoring a local spirit of the sea that the memories Iz worked so hard to block out as a child start returning. VERDICT Valentine's debut is a well-written, charming book. She writes gracefully about loss and sadness and how time and good people can help to heal the wounds of a hurting child. The author also handles mental illness and the damage it can cause a family with tact and care. Readers will enjoy getting to know Iz, who is smart and canny underneath her quiet exterior, and the family and friends who love her back to herself.--Jennifer Mills, Shorewood-Troy Lib., IL

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
Izabella Rae Haywood's father believes in magic. He pulls her out of Sunday school to honor Yemaya, the mother of the ocean, and wakes her up in the middle of the night to search for the Nikommo, tiny sprites who inhabit the woods around their Rhode Island home. She adores him and wants desperately to see what he does until her sixth birthday, when her party is ruined by her parents' fighting, and she tells her dad that she hates him, and she wishes he would go away. He does, and so does her voice, until she is 14, and her mother and grandmother return with her to Tillings Island for the Yemaya Festival. They hope that jogging her memory will end her silence, but there are more secrets to be unburied. What starts as a book about fathers and daughters becomes a book about mothers and daughters, coming-of-age, and the everyday magic of love. With the sass of Fannie Flagg and the subtle magic of Alice Hoffman, this short but powerful book should find readers of many generations.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)