The Line Tender

The Line Tender
Kate Allen
Dutton/Penguin, 2019 371 pages
Grades 4-7
Realistic Fiction

Lucy is spending a lazy summer with her best friend and neighbor Fred in their 1980's hometown off the coast of Cape Cod. Lucy's deceased mother was a marine biologist/shark specialist, so when family-friend and fisherman, Sookie, discovers a great white in the vicinity, Lucy and Fred are interested. The shark disappears overnight, but its existence ignites the duo's interest in Mom's work and encourages them to delve into research for the field guide that they are working on for extra credit. Police officer Dad is still mourning the loss of his wife and spends most of his time distracted by work and diving, leaving Lucy and Fred to their own devices. The summer chugs along, only something is different. Now that they are thirteen, the relationship between Lucy and Fred seems to be shifting in a confusing way. Fred is changing and the comfortable feelings between the two are suddenly slightly charged with energy. Before Lucy has a chance to sort through these new emotions, tragedy strikes in a devastating and unexpected way. Now she and Dad must rebuild their lives all over again and try to make sense of the loss of both Mom and the new tragedy. Will they find a line tender to keep them from drowning?

Debut author, Kate Allen, has written my new favorite novel of the year, which made me cry in two different places. It is very sad in parts, which will appeal to the current trend of readers wanting "problem novels", yet ultimately ends on a hopeful note. Lucy finds healing in community and all of the characters experience growth and become stronger through the bonds with each other. There are some truly beautiful and magical moments in this story and the writing is spot-on. Even though it’s well written, it is also very readable and will be enjoyed by its target audience. The adults in the book are key characters, right along with the child protagonists, and are both flawed and reliable and loving. Beautifully rendered pencil illustrations of sharks, by Xingye Jin introduce each chapter and represent Lucy's contribution to the field guide. I learned about sharks, diving, and what it must be like to grow up on Cape Cod, making my life richer for the time spent within the pages of this book. Set in the 1980's, the time period is not instrumental to the story, allowing me not to classify it as historical fiction, yet this time period keeps computers and cell phones out of the equation, leaving the children space to explore, roam and have interpersonal communications with their neighbors and community. Feeling like two books in one, from before and after the tragedy, The Line Tender shares many parallels to the critically acclaimed The Thing about Jellyfish. Young readers will "dive" right into this beautiful novel, have a good cry, and find healing right along with Lucy.