Six hours. One marathon swim.
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Tully has a mission: to be the youngest person to complete the Godfather swim at Lake Tahoe. She’s doing it to get her mother’s attention; the mother who went off her medicine and abandoned their family. Tully thinks if she can complete this swim she will get her mother’s attention out in the world and it will make her come home. But when a storm threatens her trip and her best friend can’t protect her, she is in the fight for her life.
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I can always count on @jamiesumner_author to bring the emotion with her MG books and Deep Water was no exception. Told in novel in verse format this story was impactful, insightful and emotional. The audiobook narration was also very well done. I can see many students connecting to Tully’s experience.

CW: mental health issues, depression, parental abandonment

3.75 ⭐️

This novel in verse moves at brisk pace. You'll be on the edge of the seat as Tully fills you in on her life as she swims. Kids will have plenty to think about after reading this, from friendship to mental illness to making safe choices. The shape poems are the best!

4.5 I never walk by or ignore books on swimming or books in verse because I know they are always about self-discovery and/or emotional.
Swimming demands great willpower and determination and the main character is struggling to deal with her mom's depression (child abandonment. Her mother left) but she gets all the answers she needs white she swims across the lake (without authorization. She believes the deed will being her mom back ). I understand that kind motivation, giving it all to see clearly not only what is important but to define character or realize how to improve.
I appreciate the book designer formatting some pages to have a visual impact with shapes and motion.
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this e-ARC.

*Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for letting me read an ARC of this book through NetGalley!*

Deep Water
Overall Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ .5 (3.5/5) or 7.28/10 overall

Characters - 7
I enjoyed getting to hear about the characters mostly through flashbacks, but that did hamper some of the relatability and made it harder to connect with any character besides Tully.

Atmosphere - 8
The atmosphere of this book helped to keep me intrigued and made the story less flat considering how most of the present moments took place on a lake.

Writing - 8
I was pleasantly surprised by this change of pace in Jamie Sumner's writing style. The other two books I've read by her, *Roll With It* and *Maid for It*, had quite different styles to this one, but I think the in-verse style helped to give this book the emotion necessary for the story it was telling.

Plot - 7
The plot was fairly straightforward and simplistic, but still quite emotional and interesting. It wasn't too predictable and it was easily to get invested in the plot, in my opinion.

Intrigue - 7
I was intrigued by the description and cover of this book from the start. As I stated above, I have read other Jamie Sumner books and each of them has been quite unique and had an individualized style. *Deep Water* was no different - the style thoroughly enhance my understanding and enjoyment of the book in a moving way.

Logic - 7
The characters' actions were logical given their circumstances, however some points felt a little less nuanced and it left me hoping for a bit more of an explanation than I got.

Enjoyment - 7
Overall, I found this to be a quick and entertaining read. Nothing showstopping but still quite poignant and influential. The book lived up to its premise and I will certainly look forward to reading more of Sumner's books in the future. :)

This was a quick read and written in verse. A story of a young girl wanting to set a swimming record for “The Godfather” marathon swim, but it goes much deeper than that. As she swims, she recalls struggles in her life, mainly with her mom, and her friend Arch is by her side through the whole swim. Great middle school read! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This lovely story told in poetry is about Tully, who really misses her mom. Tully's mom left the family and Tully feels like she is somehow responsible for the leaving. So Tully is going to swim across Lake Tahoe, and she knows that her dad would say no, so she recruits her best friend, Arch, to be her support person. As Tully is swimming, she's thinking about her mom and all the training they did together and she is convinced, that if she completes the swim, her mom will at least contact her so Tully can find out where she is and when she's coming back. This is an exciting story! The kids are going to like it a lot.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

This is another one of those stories that gives a glimpse into the experiences of another person and hopefully builds a little bit of empathy each time it is read.

This is the story of Tully who is doing The Godfather swim across Lake Tahoe. 12 miles… In doing this, she is hoping to document it so that her mom, who has left, will see it and finally see her as worthy. What the reader gets in this story is a look into the mind of a 12 year old girl who is hurting deeply. The novel in verse flows easily and helps me to understand why Tully is risking so much to complete this dangerous and seemingly impossible task. I cried for Tully in so many places as the water wrung out all she was feeling as she swam mile after mile.

I have long been a fan of Sumner and applaud her for taking a risk in writing a new format. I’m sure for her that was as harrowing and frightening as Tully’s swim. I loved seeing into Tully’s soul. I loved the friendship between her and Arch, even when things became very difficult. I’m so glad this story found its way into the world and I cannot wait to get it into the hands of my readers.

I like how the book was written, it was easy to read in that format. The title and cover are very eye catching. The story was a serious one. The ending was happy, but the book was just kind of depressing. In the end the main character still does not have her mother, even though her dad is there for her and very supportive. I would maybe use this book to show how one can write (in the shape of a raindrop, or wavy), but the content is not what I would use. I will suggest it to our guidance counselor.

Tully sets out to complete the Godfather swim. The swim is a 12 mile stretch across Lake Tahoe and ends at a mansion featured in one of the Godfather movies. Despite not having adult supervision she’s hopeful she can complete the marathon swim with the help of her best friend Arch. She hopes being the youngest person to complete the swim will draw enough attention to bring her mom back home.

Deep Water highlights how much one person’s mental health can affect the other members of a family. Perfect for fans of Dusti Bowling’s Canyon’s Edge.

Jamie Sumner does it again! This novel-in-verse explores both family and friendship as Tully attempts to swim the width of Lake Tahoe (12 miles) in an effort to get her mother's attention. Tully and her mother had been planning to tackle the swim together, but her mother left, with no explanation, months ago. Tully is sure, if she sets the record for the youngest person to complete the swim, that will garner her so much attention her mother will return. Life-long friend, Arch, kayaks along to provide snacks, pacing, and, most importantly, document her record-breaking swim. Sumner skillfully weaves background for Arch and Tully into Tully's train of thought as she tackles the swim mile by mile. Swimming, it turns out, is the most straightforward part of her endeavor. Their parents don't know what they are up to and stormy weather threatens to upend Tully's success. Pushing herself to her physical limits, and battling the elements, forces Tully to confront the truth about her mother's struggles with depression and her own feelings of abandonment. Readers will both cheer on, and worry for, Tully. Deep Water is a moving story that will open the door to discussions about mental health challenges.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read the ARC for this one. This is a deeply moving story about a young person wrestling with her place in the world after her circumstances change. An important story for both young and old.

This is a beautiful novel in verse about making peace with a parent leaving.
There is so much emotion involved in this book as Tully makes her swim. It was hard to be in her head as she goes through memories and grieves her mother leaving.
She has a great relationship with her dad and her friend Arch. The writing in this is just beautiful.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Jamie Sumner does it again! And this time in verse! I really enjoyed Tully’s adventure- in the water, and in her mind. I think everyone can find a way that they identify with Tully and her best friend. Good thought provoking read with quotes that will stick with me!

In this novel in verse, we see Tully preparing to make a 12.1 swim across Lake Tahoe, accompanied only by her good friend Arch in a kayak, who will offer support, bananas, and an emergency plan if something goes wrong. The water is cold, but she is determined, and has trained hard for this. Her mother is a physical therapist and also an avid swimmer who has supported Tully, but has also decided to leave Tully and her father. If Tully is the youngest person ever to make this swim, her mother will have to come home. There are lots of rules for the swim, and Tully and Arch are careful to follow all of them but one: getting parental permission. It's not as easy task, and Tully worries about getting an infection in a paper cut, developing a cramp, and dealing with parents who might eventually figure out where the kids are and try to stop them. In flashbacks, as the miles go by, we find out about the complicated reasons that the mother left, and how it has impacted Tully and her father. When a storm approaches, Tully doesn't want to give up, although Arch, who is a very supportive friend but not necessarily a fan of adventure for himself, contacts the parents. Will Tully be able to complete her swim, not because it will bring her mother home, but because it will help her find herself?
Strengths:Swimming, in my mind, is the hardest sport of all, and there are very few books about it, especially open water endurance swimming. This book would be a perfect opportunity to introduce young readers to the accomplishments of Diana Nyad! This starts out quickly, and quietly unfolds a lot of information about Tully's family dynamics that I don't want to spoil. There is a good balance between the details of the physical sensation of being in the cold water and having to exert so much energy, and Tully's introspective inner turmoil. There's a satisfying plot arc as well as just enough parent involvement. Fans of Sumner's Tune It Out, Roll with It, Summer of June, Made for It, and One Kid's Trash will be eager to get their hands on this.
Weaknesses: While writing this, I realized that I wanted to know a little bit more about Arch. Tully's description of him makes it seem like she doesn't really respect his personality, but she trusts him enough to put her life in his hands. He's certainly very secondary to the plot, but I found myself thinking a lot about what was going through HIS mind during this journey.
What I really think: Add this adventurous title from a popular author to the growing list of middle grade literature showing children coping with the effects of mental health challenges that includes Keller's The Science of Unbreakable Things, Jones' Silhouetted by the Blue , Hiranandani's The Whole Story of Half a Girl. Melleby's Hurricane Season, Van Otterloo's The Beautiful Something Else, Greenwald's Absolutely, Positively Natty, Strout's Next Door to Happy, Walters's The King of Jam Sandwiches, Rushby's The Mulberry Tree, Kalmar's Stealing Mt Rushmore,Van Draanen's The Peach Rebellion.

3.75 stars

As an incoming fan of Sumner's work, I was really excited to see how the verse worked out here. While this isn't my favorite installment in this author's stellar collection, it'll undeniably be a useful and meaningful overview for many young readers.

This is a short book that moves quickly, and Sumner uses the backdrop of a very lengthy swim to feature young Tully, the m.c., and the ways in which she's dealing with her mom's somewhat recent departure from the family home. As the multi-hour swim continues, readers get more insight into Tully's mom's depression, other times when she's left, Tully's relationship with her dad, and the deeper meaning of the swim itself. Like so many kids, Tully is dealing with problems that even adults struggle with at a very young age, and while her dad has done a great job of getting her into therapy to make sense of this, the struggle is very real.

Some of the highlights of this one include the packaging (it's nice to have some shorter reads available for this audience), the focus on depression, and every second of Arch, Tully's best buddy. I wanted to see more, though, when it came to Tully's mom's backstory, Tully's experiences since her mom left, and especially Tully's and Arch's relationship. That bond seems so strong and special, and the swim and brief snapshots from the past left me wanting to know additional details.

For me, Jamie Sumner is a tried-and-true writer, and the characters always deliver more reality than the often too rosy view depicted in other novels for this audience. Tully is a good example of this unfiltered reality, and my only wish for her story is simply to have gotten to know her even better.

As usual, I look forward to whatever Jamie Sumner has in store next for readers of all ages!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this novel in verse.

I've long liked Jamie Sumner's books. She doesn't shy away from hard things, and this book is no exception. I can't wait for students to get their hands on this one.

In this novel-in-verse, Tully wants to be the youngest person to finish the famous Godfather swim of 12.1 miles. Her best friend Arch is filming her swim. Tully thinks if she breaks the record, her mom will come back because she’s been gone for a few months since she went off her meds. As Tully swims, she hears thunder. She keeps thinking of her mom telling her you can do hard things. She’s too close to quit and keeps swimming. Arch wants her to stop swimming when it begins to lightning. Is Tully able to complete her swim?

Jamie Sumner has done it again, expertly tackling a tough subject, this time in a novel in verse. The short length will appeal to my students. Tully’s mom left her husband and only child to find herself and has never returned. Tully is convinced that if she completes a marathon swimming event, that she’ll get her attention. She tells only her best friend, Arch, and the two set off on a dangerous adventure. This book is filled with emotions and will give kids insight into life with a severely depressed parent.