The Deep

Dunmore, Helen. The Deep. HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN 0060818581

This is the third book in the Ingo series. However, it is enough of a complete story that it can be read easily as a stand-alone book. Dunmore does an excellent job balancing the concept of a young girl struggling to live in two worlds. Sapphire, the protagonist, has blood that is mixed with both human (Earth and Air) and Mer (Sea). Her brother is mixed as well, but the Earth is strong in him and he is not pulled as strongly to the ocean as Sapphire. The main plot is rooted in the previous books (but explained well) and describes how Sapphire has the ability to go to the Deep (a place even the Mer cannot go) in order to convince the mythical Kraken to return to sleep and stop tormenting the oceans and the inhabitants thereof. The place Sapphire longs to be is called Ingo, and she has a very strong, arrogant yet playful Mer friend named Faro who tempts her to choose Ingo as her final home. However, Sapphire is pulled to Earth by her mother, friends and love of her dog.

Although this is a large book, it is easy to read and the subject matter is suited to tweens who still love to imagine about Mer people, and are interested in friends, pets and the more simple pleasures of life. There are some mild love themes, but nothing is overly done and a tween audience could relate.

The strongest element of this book is the imaginative way the author paints the picture of both Ingo and the shoreline surrounding it. She creates a world that is so enthralling one could easily imagine the pull Sapphire feels towards it and the struggle she has balancing her two lives. Dunmore's familiarity with mythological creatures and concepts is subtly woven into the plot as well.

There are four books total in the series to date: Ingo, The Tide Knot, The Deep, and The Crossing of Ingo.