Parents' Guide to

Many Waters

By Cindy Kane, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Kids are pulled into epic good vs. evil struggle.

Book Madeleine L'Engle Science Fiction 1986
Many Waters Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 4 parent reviews

grandmareader
grandmareader Parent
December 22, 2018
age 17+

Many Waters is a Dark Book and Not for Everybody

This title has:

Too much sex
SVanD
SVanD Parent
July 7, 2018
age 15+

Misogynistic

I think this book is a product of another time. I don't see the phrases "an easy lay" and "a slut" as having any place in describing a young woman regardless of her pattern of behaviour. All the angels are male. The fallen angels groom young women to have sex and bare children for them. I'm a huge fan of the Wrinkle in Time series. This book made my skin crawl.

This title has:

Too much sex
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Fifteen-year-old twins Sandy and Dennys are the practical members of the Murry family. Unlike their siblings, Meg and Charles, they have never experienced a journey through time or space. But when, overcome with winter doldrums, they type "TAKE ME SOMEPLACE WARM" on their physicist father's computer, they are suddenly whisked away to biblical times.

Here, the fallen angels vie for control of Earth with the seraphim, and a diminutive patriarch named Noah has received a mysterious message from El to begin building a huge ship.

Sandy and Dennys must find a way to return to their own time before the flood begins, but they are concerned for the fate of Noah's beautiful granddaughter, Yalith, who is not mentioned in the biblical account.

Forced to think independently for the first time, the twins affect history in ways they couldn't have imagined, learning that "some things have to be believed to be seen."

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (5 ):

The biblical characters -- both the tiny, long-lived humans and the angels -- are considerably more interesting than the twins; even the animal characters have more personality. The main characters, Sandy and Dennys, spend a good part of this book just recovering from sunburn, being tended by members of Noah's family. When Sandy and Dennys do speak, they tend to state the perfectly obvious.

Eventually, readers are pulled into the struggle between angels and fallen angels, the ageless battle between good and evil that is at the heart of all the Chronos Quartet stories. Madeleine L'Engle raises the interesting questions of what part the twins will play in the battle, and what will happen to Yalith, whom they both love. This is not conventional storytelling, but it has its own rewards.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the twist on the familiar Noah and the ark story. How does this book change the way you view the original tale?

Book Details

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