Daughter of the Deep
By Carrie R. Wheadon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Exciting undersea adventure has diverse cast, cool tech.
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Kid 10 years old
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What's the Story?
In DAUGHTER OF THE DEEP, Ana Dakkar and her freshman class at Harding-Pencroft Academy are getting ready for their end-of-year trials on a 12-foot yacht. First Ana takes a dive with her older brother, Dev. Then they notice something's wrong: The security grid surrounding the school's secluded bay flickers off and on again. Dev assures Ana that he'll report it, and she rushes off to prepare for her trip. The freshman class is riding in a school bus toward the yacht when it happens. They feel it before they see it, the ground shaking all around them and their campus buried under the fallen cliffside. The students want to rush back and look for survivors, but not their advisor, Dr. Hewett. He senses danger and rushes the students to the yacht. Then he orders one of the students, Gemini, to protect Ana with his life. Now Ana is both upset and really confused. What's so special about her? Dr. Hewitt does a lot of explaining in a hurry as he senses an imminent attack from their rival school, Land Institute. It all relates to the Jules Verne book 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and its madman inventor, Captain Nemo. It turns out Nemo was real, left some really interesting tech behind, and Land Institute will do anything to possess the secrets, and anything to capture Nemo's last known descendant: Ana Dakkar.
Is It Any Good?
This exciting undersea adventure throws together some wildly smart teens, cool tech, a hidden island base, and a cranky, 19th-century submarine. Even if young readers found 20,000 Leagues under the Sea a bit of a slog (as the main character did), they will dive into this modern update. It imagines Ana Dakkar, freshman at a prestigious school, as Captain Nemo's last known ancestor, and the only one who can unlock the Nautilus' secrets -- that's Nemo's submarine, and it has AI, and it's rather mad about being left alone for so long.
Like any good kid-centered adventure, this team of 20 freshman has barely learned what they need to survive before their only adult support checks out (in this case, their advisor falls into a coma). Luckily they are all specially trained in just about everything at their school: combat, medicine, sign language, electronics, you name it. And they're up against the senior class of a rival institute who won't show mercy. Why they sent seniors instead of adult assassins and mad scientists, that doesn't make sense. Nor does the idea that Ana's school doesn't want at least some of Nemo's secrets out in the world. Who wouldn't want the cure for cancer? How could that go wrong? But the missing logic doesn't take away from the thrills here, especially when Ana encounters a surprise villain and a surprise deep-sea friend. And of course there's a diver fight underwater as part of the climactic action -- there has to be. Get your captain's chair ready and enjoy this page-turner of an adventure, and get excited about the ones to come.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about who you agree with in Daughter of the Deep. Should the most advanced technology be available to everyone? What are the risks? Who usually benefits from advancements in weaponry and other technology? What advancements can humankind be trusted with?
Ana's school of brilliant students is very diverse. What struggles did Gemini and Nelinha have fitting in when they arrived? How did they overcome them? Is your school as diverse as this one? What about the other books you read that take place in boarding schools?
Disney+ has movie rights to this book. Does it make you more excited to read the series or worried they'll mess up you favorite parts or a little of both? What other books that you like have been make into movies or TV shows? Did the filmmakers get it right?
Book Details
- Author: Rick Riordan
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Topics: STEM , Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Book Characters , Brothers and Sisters , Friendship , Great Girl Role Models , High School , Ocean Creatures , Robots , Science and Nature
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
- Publication date: October 26, 2021
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 14
- Number of pages: 352
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: October 21, 2021
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