The Highest Tide A Novel

"A poignant coming-of-age story and an enchanting primer on the life aquatic.The Highest Tideis as crisp and clean as a cool dip into the water, and just about as refreshing.--Entertainment Weekly One moonlit night, thirteen-year-old Miles O'Malley sneaks out of his house and goes exploring on the tidal flats of Puget Sound. When he discovers a rare giant squid, he instantly becomes a local phenomenon shadowed by people curious as to whether this speed-reading, Rachel Carson obsessed teenager is just an observant boy or an unlikely prophet. But Miles is really just a kid on the verge of growing up, infatuated with the girl next door, worried that his bickering parents will divorce, and fearful that everything, even the bay he loves, is shifting away from him. As the sea continues to offer up discoveries from its mysterious depths, Miles struggles to deal with the difficulties that attend the equally mysterious process of growing up. A national bestseller and a Book Sense pick in hardcover Jim Lynchhas won national journalism awards and published short fiction in literary magazines and spent four years as the Puget Sound reporter for theOregonian. A Washington state native, Lynch currently writes and sails from his home in Olympia, where he lives with his wife and daughter.The Highest Tideis his first novel. An American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults One moonlit night, thirteen-year-old Miles O'Malley slips out of his house, packs up his kayak and goes exploring on the flats of Puget Sound. But what begins as an ordinary hunt for starfish, snails, and clams is soon transformed by an astonishing sight: a beached giant squid. As the first person to ever see a giant squid alive, the speed-reading Rachel Carson-obsessed insomniac instantly becomes a local curiosity. When he later finds a rare deepwater fish in the tidal waters by his home, and saves a dog from drowning, he is hailed as a prophet. The media hovers and everyone wants to hear what Miles has to say. But Miles is really just a teenager on the verge of growing up, infatuated with the girl next door, worried that his bickering parents will divorce, and fearful that everything, even the bay he loves, is shifting away from him. While the sea continues to offer up discoveries from its mysterious depths, Miles struggles to deal with the difficulties that attend the equally mysterious process of growing up. In this mesmerizing, beautifully wrought first novel, we witness the dramatic sea change for both Miles and the coastline that he adores over the course of a summer--one that will culminate with the highest tide in fifty years. "[A] graceful and inventive first novel . . . [Lynch's] declarative style and vivid imagery allow the science of the ocean to blend easily with its poetry."--The New York Times Book Review "[A] graceful and inventive first novel . . . [Lynch's] declarative style and vivid imagery allow the science of the ocean to blend easily with its poetry."--The New York Times Book Review "Wryly funny, achingly sad and endearingly hopeful . . . the kind of book you can't put down, and the kind you'll pick up again."--Denver Post "In stunning prose, author Jim Lynch puts a sea life into a kaleidoscope where swirling shapes burst and reconfigure in continuous life-affirming wonder . . . The balance of elegance, groundedness and style is remarkable."--San Francisco Chronicle "Move over, Holden Caulfield; here's Miles . . . An uncommon and uncommonly good coming-of-age novel."--Chicago Tribune<

Jim Lynch spent four years as the Puget Sound reporter for the Oregonian, and has won national journalism awards and published short fiction in literary magazines. A Washington state native, Lynch currently writes and sails from his home in Olympia, where he lives with his wife and daughter. The Highest Tide is his first novel.

“In stunning prose, author Jim Lynch puts sea life into a kaleidoscope where swirling shapes burst and reconfigure in continuous life-affirming wonder…The balance of elegance, groundedness and style is remarkable.�—San Francisco Chronicle

“An irresistible coming-of-age fable, dappled with lyricism, briny honesty and good humor. It's as if Carson herself (or, say, John McPhee) had turned to fiction, bringing an exacting sense of the ebb and flow of nature to the story of one largely unsupervised boy and the exploration of his surroundings.�—Los Angeles Times

“Unforgettable…[A] classic coming-of-age story, told with wry wit and quirky mating-marine-life facts.�—Seattle Times
“The fertile strangeness of marine tidal life becomes a subtly executed metaphor for the bewilderments of adolescence in this tender and authentic coming-of-age novel.�—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Nerdy, vulnerable, obsessive, pure, Miles has a flavor about him of Christopher…in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time…Above all the book is blessed by a genuine sense of wonder.�—Miami Herald

“Wryly funny, achingly sad and endearingly hopeful…the kind of book you can't put down, and the kind you'll pick up again.�—Denver Post