The Tide Knot (Ingo Series)

In a seaside town of sandy beaches and ocean breezes, Sapphy has never felt so far from the sea. The crowded shore at St. Pirans is nothing like the cove at Sapphy's old home, where she first found her way into the underwater world of Ingo.

But Ingo's pull is strong, and it always finds a way. Soon Sapphy and her brother, Conor, are swimming beneath the waves again, riding the currents and teasing their Mer friend Faro. As Sapphy goes deeper into Ingo, she learns to feel more at home in the sea—even as she begins to be aware of its dangers.

There's the danger of going in too deep, and breaking the delicate balance between Sapphy's life on land and her life in Ingo. There's the mysterious disappearance of Sapphy's father, an experienced sailor who should never have drowned. And then there's Ingo itself—a restless power as old as the world, as strong as the tides, and more dangerous than anything Sapphy has ever known.

Children's Literature

The Tide Knot, gives the term dysfunctional family a new twist. What happens when the ocean takes Sapphire's father and leaves her family torn between land and ocean? Now Sapphire and her brother Connor must find out the answer to their father's disappearance and at the same time save themselves from complete destruction. While Connor still wants to be more on land then water, the ocean tempts Sapphire and pulls her to the underwater place of Ingo. Here she learns of her father's fate and how she must choose to belong to either the land or the ocean. She struggles with the right answer because each place has people that she loves. While our heroine makes a decision, her town finds itself flooded and now Connor and Sapphire have to make things right even if it means someone must die. The author, Helen Dunmore, gives her reader a new look at how the family is changing in our society. I could smell the fresh sea air and I could visualize what the village would have looked like underwater. Sometimes I struggled with Sapphire's motivation and why she keeps being drawn to her father and yet never really reaches him. That circle never seems to complete itself. This is the second book in the series, while Ingo was the first. Reviewer: Julia Beiker

Helen Dunmore is a multi-award-winning novelist, short story writer and poet. She has written nine adult books, including A Spell of Winter, winner of the first Orange Prize for Fiction in 1996, and twenty-two children’s books, including The Tide Knot, the sequel to Ingo and the winner of the UK NestlÉ Children’s Book Prize Silver Medal. Helen Dunmore lives in Bristol, England, with her husband and children. Visit her online at helendunmore.com.