Whilst it has a female lead, it does have many male characters around her that young boys would be able to latch on to and identify with. The thing that struck me most was how appropriate it would be for a classroom setting. There is little time to discuss motivations or develop relationships here but the story is about confronting your fears and dealing with grief, so whilst it may lack those qualities for an adult, overall I don’t think it would bother its main target audience. It doesn’t patronise and gives us a solid, likeable and dependable heroine who is keen to find her own way in life. The storyline is strong and moves at a cracking pace. As well as a theft and a meeting with a group of people who are called ferals who’ve somehow got a resurgence of Small Pox. We follow Jade and her friend, Bates on their journey to the inland town, through the troubles of death, grief, a missing sister and a mysterious treasure. The hope is that this will be a temporary state of affairs and that they will be able to return after the floods have receded. Our protagonist, Jade, aged 12, has to travel inland like the rest of her beach dwelling neighbours for protection as the water rises. The book takes place about 30 years in the future after an ecological disaster caused by the melting of the ice caps. This book is aimed at a younger audience, I would say but should appeal to a broad base of young adult readers. I’ve been able to recommend them to students on many occasions. I chose to request this book because I had read and thoroughly enjoyed two of Ms Cassidy’s other books, Looking for JJ and its sequel. Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for giving me this ebook in return for a review.

The Drowing Day by Anne Cassidy