Surfacing

Surfacing

by Nora Raleigh Baskin

When Maggie was just five years old, her nine year old sister drowned.  Ever since, Maggie has had an almost magical ability to get people to tell her their deepest secrets, whether they want to or not.  She has no control over this strange power, but everyone else has definitely noticed so Maggie has just one friend.

And though her sister drowned, Maggie is like a dolphin in the water.  She's fast.  She's good.  She's the swim team's only hope to get to the finals.

Then there's Matthew.  He's a senior and he's all Maggie thinks she wants.

Now Maggie has just a short period of time to get her life in order, even as it falls even further apart.

Final thoughts:  This one is thoughtful and deep, but also a little confusing.  While it starts off with one point of view, the author starts to switch it around and suddenly there are more narrators telling the story.  Maggie is not very relatable as a character.  She makes some very strange choices and it's hard to understand what she's thinking.  Maggie seems pretty emotionally distant from her own life, making it hard for the reader to feel anything at all for her.  The strange confessions that come from everyone just seem an excuse for her not having more than one close friend, though that ability is never explained and makes no sense in the story overall.

Rating: 2/5