Because the Sea is powerful - duh

Ok, this will sound bad, and I don't really want it to, but I've found that in the last half decade or so, that some of the best fantasy fiction for kids (I know nothing of trends for adults) has been coming from the U.K. and Australia. This isn't to say the U.S. isn't producing good fantasy, I've just noticed a lot of it coming from overseas. Just an observation. One of these imports is Undine. It has a really bad tagline ("The magic, the girl, the ocean inside her...") and a cover that doesn't really do it for me, but still, I read. And I liked. It was actually quite good, well, until the end, but I'll get to that. Undine awakes one day feeling rather odd, but she's familiar with the sensation; it's happened before and it's always gone away. However, it's Tuesday, and as she doesn't trust Tuesdays, she skips school and heads to her aunt's house where she hangs out until she starts hearing voices. Which, of course, is a bad sign. Things get progressively worse for Undine, until she realizes that she has suddenly developed some mad power, which she, of course must keep secret (except for her best friend Trout). Oh - and there is a missing father about whom her mother refuses to speak. I was very intrigued with the idea touched on that power corrupts and would have liked Russon to explore that a bit more. In the end things are tied up too quickly and FAR too neatly, but I hear that there's a sequel out in Australia, so perhaps that will serve to mess things up a bit. It almost felt that it ended that way just in case Russon didn't get a contract for the next book there would be some sort of faux resolution, even though the biggest questions haven't truly been approached. 12+

Most amusing line: "...she takes me for granted. She trusts me too much, and girls never feel passionate about boys they trust." p10. Thought by best friend Trout. I think that can be reversed as well, fish boy.