Waterwight by Laurel Mchargue

Waterwight by Laurel Mchargue

WINER of the 2016 Silver EVY Award for Fiction/Fantasy

14-year-old Celeste doesn't know what happened to her parents, her dog, and all the other things that disappeared years ago in what the survivors call The Event. She also doesn't know there's a murderous shapeshifter after her. She does know that she will do her best to discover the truth.

After running away from the children's home, she questions her sanity when cats, and then dogs, communicate with her. They tell her she must go to the other side of the big water, but can provide no further information. Celeste is discovered by the shapeshifter soon after running away, and then learns she has the ability to fly.

The animals train her on the way to a mountain, where she finds she can also communicate with Old Man Massive, a mountain spirit. Beyond the mountain lies the big water. What started from a fissure in the planet is now an expanding body of silvery-pink sulphur-belching gelatinous liquid, and there appears to be no stopping it. After leaving the mountain, she is rescued by Orville, a flying frog, who becomes her guardian throughout the story.

Celeste meets the superstitious population on the other side of the big water and must prove herself in order to stay. By this point, she has been told that she must find the key to stopping the advance of what the villagers call the ooze. In the village, other youths are exhibiting unusual powers and they are afraid. Many blame Celeste.

Celeste struggles to find the key while evading the treacherous shifter, and nearly dies after being lured into a magical sand castle by a childlike voice. She receives messages from other mystical beings in her dangerous quest, but none can tell her where or how to find the key.

In the end, she believes she know what she must do to save the planet. But at what cost?

Waterwight comes complete with a synonym glossary, a language translation glossary, and questions for discussion. A Kirkus Reviewer likens Waterwight to Neil Gaiman's Coraline.