Synopsis
It's the 22nd century and, because of climate change, much of England is underwater. Poor Lilly is out fishing with her trusty sea-cat when greedy raiders pillage the town--and kidnap the prime minister's daughter. Her village blamed, Lilly decides to find the girl. Off she sails, in secret. And with a ransom: a mysterious talking jewel. "If I save his daughter," Lilly reasons, "the prime minister's sure to reward me." Little does Lilly know that it will take more than grit to outwit the tricky, treacherous piratical tribes!
Children's Literature
The twenty-third century finds London and much of what is now England under water because of catastrophic storms. Technology has been banned as a force of evil since the "Collapse" in the late twenty-first century. Only Greater Scotland allows the use of technology such as cell phones. Most electronics are now antiquities for display in museums or hidden away by collectors. Thirteen year old Lily lives in a primitive fishing village in one of the remaining Ten Counties of England. Her village is attacked by one of the Raider families of London who kill her grandmother and kidnap a young girl. When her best friend, Andy, is forced into the military along with the other males of the village, Lily sets off with her seacat in a small boat to ransom the child and make things right again. The novel is told alternately from Lily's point of view and that of Zeph, the Raider Boss's son. She and Zeph become unlikely allies in this seafaring adventure. Treasure in the form of an antique, artificial intelligence with a distinct personality provides humor in the midst of battle. Reviewer: Shirley Nelson