Review: The Line Tender, by Kate Allen

I highly recommend The Line Tender, by Kate Allen. I’m a fan of literary middle grade novels that tug at the heartstrings, so I was excited to dig into the ARC of Allen’s novel, due to be published 4/16/19 by Dutton Children’s Books. At 371 pages, the book at first glance seemed a bit lengthy for middle grade. But once I began reading, the pages flew. The story of Lucy, her dad, and her best friend Fred was one I could not stop reading. The coastal Massachusetts setting was real, from the earthy smell of the algae-green wood at the wharf to the hot (“July hot”) heat that hung above the shingled houses, old-fashioned candy store, and Chinese imports shop. I was right there with Lucy when a Great White shark with “huge serrated teeth, gnarly and sticking out at different angles…poking out of the shredded gums, pink like strawberry taffy” got caught in a fishing net. Lucy’s deceased mom was a shark expert, and immediately I felt the void left by her passing five years prior. (“…my grief for her was like a circle. It always came around to missing her again.”) Through an extra credit science class Field Guide project, 12-year-old Lucy and her best friend Fred grew close. As Lucy sketched the Great White, Fred filled in the research facts. As Lucy drew a moon snail, Fred made notes about the shell colors, and then handed Lucy an extra lunch he had packed, since Lucy’s dad was bad about keeping the refrigerator filled. (“That’s the thing about Fred. Not only was he smart about academic stuff. He was smart about me.”) As a reader, I could feel Fred and Lucy’s love for one another. From Fred’s interest in Lucy’s mom’s shark research to the pre-teens’ growing physical attraction, (“I put my head on his shoulder for a moment…His face was so close, I could smell his sunscreen.”) the friendship between Lucy and Fred made my heart soar. Their connection was real.

Then everything changed at the quarry.

Literally, I gasped.

In retrospect, the earlier loss of the Great White should have been my clue that another loss was coming. Still, though. Fred’s drowning hit me hard. Why? Because author Kate Allen took the first 109 pages to fully develop the characters and the relationship between Lucy and Fred. After Fred’s death, I mourned. I was scared when Lucy’s choking sensation—her brain’s response to the accident— prevented her from eating much of anything for the remainder of the story. How could I rescue her from her grief?

When Great White shark sightings mounted following Fred’s death, I wanted to believe the sharks were Fred’s way of telling Lucy he was okay. But this book doesn’t deal in the magical. It deals with hard truths about life and loss and moving on. The author doesn’t take short cuts or present easy answers.Grief is tough. And it’s not until Lucy grabs a line connecting her father, a stubborn fisherman, and an old widower to her mom’s unfinished shark research, that she’s finally able to look beyond what she’s lost and focus on what’s left to be discovered.

My rating: FIVE STARS.

THE LINE TENDER, by Kate Allen, is a literary gem. I fully expect to see this novel on award lists. For fans of THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH and COUNTING BY SEVENS and anyone who enjoys a well-told tale with characters who feel like family.