Deep Water

by Jamie Sumner

Overview

“Readers will feel every wave of Tully’s emotions as she risks everything to try to get her mom’s attention. A powerful novel in verse.” —Lisa Fipps, author of Printz Honor book Starfish

A middle grade novel in verse that “packs a powerful punch” (Kirkus Reviews) from acclaimed author Jamie Sumner that spans one girl’s marathon swim over twelve miles and six hours, calling her mom back home with every stroke.

Six hours.
One marathon swim.

That’s all Tully Birch needs to get her life straightened out. With the help of her best friend, Arch, Tully braves the waters of Lake Tahoe to break the record for the youngest person ever to complete the famous “Godfather swim.” She wants to achieve something no one in the world has done, because if she does, maybe, just maybe, her mom will come back.

The swim starts off well—heart steady, body loose, Arch in charge of snacks as needed. But for Tully, all that time alone with her thoughts allows memories to surface. And in the silence of deep waters, sadness can sink you. When the swim turns dangerous, Tully fights for her survival. Does she keep going and risk her own safety and Arch’s? Or does she quit to save them both, even if it means giving up hope that her mother will return?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781420519327
Publisher:	Gale, A Cengage Group
Publication date:	01/08/2025
Edition description:	Large Print
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

About the Author

Jamie Sumner is the author of Roll with It, Time to Roll, Rolling On, Tune It Out, One Kid’s Trash, The Summer of June, Maid for It, Deep Water, Please Pay Attention, Schooled, and Glory Be. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. She loves stories that celebrate the grit and beauty in all kids. She is also the mother of a son with cerebral palsy and has written extensively about parenting a child with special needs. She and her family live in Nashville, Tennessee. Visit her at Jamie-Sumner.com.

Read an Excerpt

How It Starts

Air temp: 44 degrees.

Water temp: 68 degrees.

Body temp: 98.3 degrees.

Mental state of swimmer: Calm. Loose. Ready.

Mental state of support crew: Unknown and highly variable.

Arch looks like he’s going to puke—

hands on knees,

head down like a dog,

orange life vest bunched around his ears.

Poor Arch.

He wasn’t meant for the open water.

He’s a worrier.

You can’t be a worrier and a swimmer.

The water demands trust.

Whatever conditions...

Whatever’s below...

Whatever your head tells you...

You have to believe you’re going to make it

to the other side.

The minute you start to doubt yourself,

you make mistakes.

The water doesn’t forgive mistakes.

Me?

I’m a believer

in the power of the water

and in myself.

I don’t make mistakes.

While we’re still on shore,

Arch adjusts his life vest and breathes in through his nose.

I check his watch.

“5:58 a.m. You’ve got two minutes to get it together,” I say,

and look out over the dark blue of Lake Tahoe,

which is just beginning to twitch awake.

“Tully, I can’t,” Arch says, like he has a choice.

“You have to.

You swore it.”

I don’t remind him when or why he swore it.

He picks up the kayak,

drags it to the water’s edge.

He remembers.

Behind me, Cave Rock would cast a shadow

if the sun were high enough.

They call her Lady of the Lake.

If you squint hard enough,

the rock looks like a woman.

I think it’s a stretch.

If you try hard enough,

anything can look like anything.

Unless it disappears,

and then all the imagining in the world

won’t turn it into what you want,

which brings me back to today.

“One minute,” Arch whispers,

and swipes his dark hair out of his eyes.

We look out over the water.

I nudge his shoulder.

“You can do it.”

He nudges me back.

“That’s what I’m supposed to say to you.”

This will be the last time we touch for at least six hours—

if I do this right,

which I will,

because I do not make mistakes.

I pull my goggles down and step in.

Lady of the Lake, wish me luck.

Not that I believe in luck.

Or second chances.

But I believe in the power of the water

to do what it needs to do

for me,

for Mom.

“Call it,” I say to Arch,

who swallows,

lifts up his phone,

presses record.

“Time is 6:00 a.m.

Participant has left the natural shore.”

His voice breaks on shore,

but he keeps going:

“The marathon swim has begun.”

Editorial Reviews

"Packs a powerful punch."

Kirkus Reviews

"Each mile not only propels the race forward but delves deeper into Tully’s life story, drawing readers into her struggles and emotions. . . A wonderful read that will resonate with athletes, those navigating family challenges, and even reluctant readers; a strong addition to all middle grade library collections."

School Library Journal

★ "Sumner sensitively maps a troubled relationship . . . The author vividly renders the extreme efforts required to finish the long swim, giving Tully’s inner progress like length and depth . . . Readers will be swept up in the currents and undercurrents."

 STARRED REVIEW Booklist

★ “This touching and deeply affecting novel takes on difficult topics such as maternal abandonment and codependency and gives readers a peek into the feelings and thoughts that underpin childhood trauma.

Horn Book

"[In] this carefully crafted verse novel . . . Sumner compassionately examines the effects that living with a parent managing mental health challenges can have on a child."

Publishers Weekly

Narrator Cailin Kelly establishes a youthful voice for 12-year-old Tully, who is determined to complete a marathon swim on Lake Tahoe. Kelly captures Tully's tumultuous emotions as she reflects on her past relationship with her mom, also a swimmer, who left her. Now she must learn to face the truth that her mom may not return and appreciate the support that she has from her father and her best friend, Arch. Listeners and fans of novels in verse will find a deep connection with Tully as she comes to terms with the loss of her mom and finds herself on a long and dangerous journey through open water. M.D. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

MAY 2024 - AudioFile

2024-02-03
Sometimes you must risk everything to find out who matters.

Tully has her mother’s nose and auburn hair—and even her mother’s maiden name as her given name. Tully is also athletic and competitive like her mother. She’s been swimming competitively since she was 6, and now, at 12, she’s encouraged by her mother to be the youngest person ever to swim across Lake Tahoe. But then Mom stops taking her meds, begins exercising obsessively, and suddenly leaves without saying goodbye. Seeing Dad “swallowed up / in the glow of his computer screen,” Tully decides that if she succeeds in swimming across Lake Tahoe, her mother will come back, “Because I am a winner / and I can do HARD THINGS.” Tully trains in secret, and early one July morning, she sets out across the lake with her best friend, Arch, kayaking alongside her. Laid out in parts titled “Hour One,” “Hour Two,” and so on, this accessible but sometimes overly obvious story pulls readers into the heart of a grueling 12.1-mile swim. As Tully struggles mentally with the confusion and guilt brought on by her mother’s departure and she thrashes her way across a suddenly stormy lake while Arch yells at her to quit, she comes to an honest assessment of herself—and her mother. The varied and creative layout of the text adds an interesting component to the free-verse, present-tense narrative, told from Tully’s first-person point of view. Characters read white.

Packs a powerful punch. (Verse fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews