Where the Tide Lines Lead

By Author / Illustrator

Sophie Cameron

Genre

Environment & Nature

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Little Tiger

ISBN

9781788958080

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

07-05-2026

Synopsis

Elio's family owns a successful holiday resort on the Spanish coast, but when multiple teenagers go missing in suspicious circumstances, bookings across the town dry up.

Then Elio witnesses something strange - the sea parting for a teenage girl, before carefully enveloping her. Unsurprisingly, no one on the island believes Elio. But a few days later, Sam, a British tourist, comes to find him. Her older sister Jess is one of the missing teens, and Sam thinks Elio's story could be true.

As they investigate, they too are pulled into the water and discover an underwater city ruled by selkie-like creatures. The beings are in desperate need of Elio and Sam's help, but why have they been taking teenagers, and can they really be trusted?

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Reviews

Beverley

Elio lives in Spain, where his family own a holiday resort. However, business is struggling because, over the past few weeks, seven teenagers have gone missing, vanishing without trace. No one has any idea what is going on and police investigations into the disappearances have come to nothing.

Then, while on the beach one night, Elio hears a mysterious song and sees a girl walk into the sea. When he witnesses the ocean part to form a path and the waves close over her, pulling her under the water, he knows no one will believe what he has seen. He teams up with Sam, whose twin sister is one of the missing teens and together they decide that the only way to find out the truth is to let the sea take them too. What they discover, deep beneath the waves, will change their lives forever.

Where The Tide Lines Lead is a well-written novel with an intriguing premise. I enjoyed reading Elio and Sam's adventures in the underwater city of Posidonia, and how they learn of the devastating effect pollution is having on the ocean and its inhabitants. The descriptions of the coral reefs and the awful amounts of litter they find there are quite horrifying.

The main characters, Elio and Sam, are well drawn and interesting; Elio, struggling with his sexuality and unable to stand up to his father's plans for his future, and Sam, determined to find out what happened to her beloved sister.

The only problem I had with the book was that I felt the themes were a little muddled at times - was this book about the effects of tourism on the environment, a mystery story, a fantasy or an adventure? However, the author does write well and makes the reader think about pollution and how even the smallest effort to make a change is never wasted.

Where The Tide Lines Lead would work well as a class reader with students studying sustainability and pollution, and I am interested to see what this talented author writes next.

288 pages / Reviewed by Beverley Somerset, School Librarian