Thirteen is such a tough age, especially for Condi. Living on the cusp of the ocean and not surfing is a daily disappointment. With a strong and determined Grandmother doing her best, Condi is surviving but does not feel as if she is thriving. Enter Trustin and life gets even more interesting. Suddenly surfing and daily new happenings are part of Condi’s life.

This story has a lot of moving parts that are all provocative. While Condi’s life may seem to be dealing with the day to day teenage girl issues, there are weightier issues occurring. The local homeless women – the Beachlings are being harassed, and the town she grew up in is changing in a negative direction. What was once important to the community is being led in a varied direction by new residents and visitors to the town. Shifting throughout all of this is a mystical occurrence happening under the surface of the ocean.

The author does a very nice job of wrapping up all these dangling ends into a comprehensive bow at the end, but the journey there is the best part as the reader tries to catch and connect those dangling parts of Condi’s life.

It’s books like this that make me wish I was back in my library. I know just the kids I would hand this one to. The ones that are reading above their grade level, reading a lot, and need something with more teeth in it – this is that book.