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A Final Return in Nadia Aguiar’s The Great Wave of Tamarind
Penny Nelson has vague memories of Tamarind. She’s been to the magical island twice before with her siblings, once as an infant and then again at five years old. But that was years ago. Her siblings, Maya and Simon, are grown now, gone to live their lives far away from Granny Pearl, Penny, and her parents, putting the mysterious world of Tamarind behind them. Mostly.
But now Granny Pearl is seeing signs. Harbor conchs lined up in a circle on the beach. The leaves on the orange trees are turning silver. Seagrape, the family’s pet parrot and Penny’s guardian, begins to shimmer. Something’s coming, Granny Pearl claims, something big. Granny Pearl has always had a gift for sensing the mystical, and Penny believes her. But Penny’s parents aren’t sure. Granny Pearl is getting 0ld, her mind is drifting, they say. It’s something Penny will have to accept. It’s serious enough that they’ve called Simon and Maya home to visit their grandmother. But Penny refuses to believe her grandmother could be wrong. And so when Granny Pearl instructs Penny to oar out to the edge of the cove one night and wait, Penny agrees. As the dark night wears on, a cold and wet Penny begins to second guess herself. What if Granny Pearl is just going crazy? Then, in the early hours of daylight, a subtle shift, a flash, a stream of light across the water, and Penny once again finds herself crossing the line between her world and Tamarind.
Unlike the last time, Penny doesn’t have her siblings with her. Fortunately, she quickly finds friends in Tabba and Jebby, adventurous twins her age. And somewhere on the great island is Helix, the boy who would now be grown into a man, the friend she’s missed for seven years. But before she can hunt for Helix, Penny learns that she’s arrived at a pivotal moment. The Bloom is about to begin in Kana, the northeast side of the island. Occurring only once in a generation, the Bloom is a time when the waters of the ocean pull back into a giant wave, and an explosion the locals best describe as fireworks occurs. This explosion is lifegiving. Capturing the bloom and pouring it into the sacred Coral Basin will banish the monkey-like madrill back into the Gorgonne, promising safety for another generation of Kana locals. Only one, a child, will be able to enter the giant wave to catch the bloom. And that child will then be allowed to save a few drops of the bloom for himself. Suddenly, Penny knows why she’s come. She’ll gather the bloom, taking the few lifegiving drops back to Granny Pearl, and everything at home will return to normal.
Together with Tabba and Jebby, Penny forms a team, one of the fifty two that will dwindle down over the course of three challenges until only one, the Bloom Catcher, will remain. Armed with youthful naiveté, new friends, and a deep sense of mission, Penny enters the competition confidently. Not surprisingly, our heroine soon discovers she has underestimated the dangers of becoming the Bloom Catcher. There’s Kal, another competitor, whose unique ability combined with his desperation to win at any cost leads him to play by his own rules. There’s the heat and humidity of the jungle, with its strange creatures and dangerous plants; a world where false steps could be final steps. And there’s the mandrill itself, a fearsome creature who travels through worlds of his own creation with the use of shimmering portals known as whorls. Left unchecked, if the bloom is not caught and poured in the coral basin, the mandrill will destroy Kana. And what about Helix? Will Penny find her friend again before she has to leave?
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The final book in the trilogy, which also includes The Lost Island of Tamarind and Secrets of Tamarind, The Great Wave of Tamarind returns the reader to a setting both familiar and brand new. Likewise, readers are again reunited with Helix and Penny, but seven years have passed and neither are the same. Readers who enjoy the thrill of adventure and the competitiveness of The Hunger Games (but without the violent bloodshed) will fall quickly under the thrall of Tamarind, whether it’s their first visit or their third. Author Nadia Aguiar has created a world that is purely fantastical, while the emotions, the desires, and the fears of those who inhabit it are fully realistic; a blurred line between fantasy and reality with an ending that is equally satisfying and true to the heartaches of coming-of-age.
Which really only leaves one question…who will be the next Bloom Catcher?
The Great Wave of Tamarind is on B&N bookshelves on March 28.