The Highest Tide: A Novel

I just finished Deep River and really enjoyed it. I was interested to read another book focused in the Northwest and this one on Puget Sound. The reviews sounded really promising.I'm about 15% in, but will probably stop. I can't get past a middle-aged man writing in the voice of a teenager with all it's odd sexual references. I've already read twice about hanging things from a teenaged girl's breasts; somehow references to penises in sea animals; taking advantage of teen age girls while intoxicated; having a girl lift her shirt because you gave her roses.I don't get the connection to the story. Maybe if you're a teen age boy it would be your thing?

Mud Bay is an inlet from the Pacific that intrudes into the Washingon state mainland just south of our capital of Olympia. It's bordered by some extensive shallows and muddy tidal flats as the ocean tide ebbs and floods twice each day. Drive by there, say from Seattle, on a day when the tide is out, and you can SMELL the life that's in the oozing mud and borne across the flats by the bountiful Pacific.In this Jim Lynch novel Miles O'Malley is a 13 year old kid who lives at the edge of Mud Bay. He has his hands full of growing up, not just in a non-standard place but among a lot of equally non-standard people who impinge on his life in a way that you'd probably never expect if you grew up in a typical sub-urban neighborhood peopled with more cookie cutter folks. The only thing about his family that is sadly now more "normal" is that his parents are breaking up. They've lost interest in one another and maybe never had any in the first place. Miles loves them, but he doesn't seem to be really very high on their personal lists.Miles has others in his life of course, Adolescent boys near his own age, none of whom would win any contests for wisdom, even vestigial maturity, or smarts, but all of whom share a kid-sized mutual loyalty. Most of their conversations seem to be focused on breasts, the opposite sex and what goes on with them "down there." Miles own female interests range from his own age to an elderly and mostly handicapped old neighbor lady who has been generally written off as a "psychic" nutcase. Miles protects and helps her and admires her own strange and insightful friendship. But his real love is the Bay itself and the enormous profusion of life from great to near invisible that it nurtures.Mile also happens to be extraordinarily capable of learning about and understanding the nature of life in the Bay and on its tidal flanks. He ends up repeatedly making significant news locally and wider about surprising discoveries that start to catapult him into an exotic celebrity category despite his own efforts to just be himself. His effort to balance his growing notoriety, with his burgeoning hormonal urges, and dreams and the temptations offered by his coterie of adolescent mates, and his own blindingly well-informed talent for natural sciences creates a story that is not only sheer fun, but that introduces the reader to a world of cosmic complexity in the microcosm of Mud Bay.Lynch's imagination, research and story-telling abilities have created a novel of immense readability, integrity and character. You can lose--and find--yourself when the Highest Tide sweeps into Mud Bay.

I fell in love with this story in the first few pages. Lynch obviously loves Puget Sound as much as I do, and I found myself and my own adolescence in Miles’ own unrequited and misunderstood love for his bay.The story is character driven, Miles’ bay changing as fast and mysteriously as his world is, with just enough plot to keep you turning page after page. It’s a gorgeous world of geoducks and moon jellies written in living color with enough prose to allow even unfamiliar readers to see it, all while reliving vicariously through painful awkwardness of growing up.Highly recommend.

The Skinny: A coming of age tale about a boy obsessed with marine life and what happens when he discovers a giant squid that sets off a chain of events resulting in massive exposure on his insular world and the peculiar relationships that define him.The Fat: The Highest Tide is one of the best novels I've had the pleasure to read in recent years. Jim Lynch possesses a poetic beauty in his prose, but doesn't make it showy or flagrant. It flows naturally, completely enveloping the reader in the mind of the precocious Miles, a 13 year old boy who is more at home in the tidal flats around his home than in social circles or relationships. His best friend happens to be a woman so elderly that he has to aid her in using the restroom. The only friend his age doesn't understand him, and his crush on a troubled older girl goes unnoticed. To make it all come to a head, he discovers a giant squid on the beach.This attracts scientists, news reporters and even some cultists as Miles almost miraculously discovers species after species of new or extremely rare marine life on the shoreline that he knows like the back of his hand. His obscure world is thrust into the national spotlight, exposing the troubles that lurked in the cracks until then, including his parent's impending divorce.What makes this novel stand out is how Jim Lynch seems to effortlessly bring the characters alive, and even more so his descriptions of the marine life that fascinates Miles so much. Many writers might make such sound boring and technical, but Lynch takes the reader right to the shore and brings it all to life so that we too can be awed and humbled by the beauty and fragility of nature. It is rare to find a novel that speaks poetry without pretentiousness, but Lynch pulls it off well. The result is a rare treat of a story that should delight readers familiar with its themes as well as those like myself who are completely ignorant of life by the water.The Bottom Line: Read this book. I loved it, and recommend it to anyone who loves a story that takes you away.

The Highest Tide focused on the everyday life of a 13 year old boy who was smart, well read and knew a lot about the tides and marine life of the area. He was respected and liked by many of the town elders but had to work harder to fit in with his family and his peers. He cared about people and the environment. This refreshing approach was easy to accept and admire.

I loved Border Songs, so picked this up and loved it. I grew up by the sea but know so little; this coming of age, subtle, intelligent, moving and gentle novel is now one of my favourite reads.

I owned this book before I got my Kindle and it was one of my first e purchases. A quirky book about a boy, a beach and about growing up. Slow paced but full of wonder.

Not a page turner. Just a pleasant read. To love the main character is to understand his love of the sea and all the marvel it encompasses with it's relevance to our past, future and our almost nothingness amongst all species.

too early to review only received it today

A beautifully crafted tale with some equally memorable characters.A great coming of age tale simply but eloquently told. Some pretty interesting facts about sea-life too.