A review by writerlibrarian
Changing Tides by Michael Thomas Ford

4.0

it's a summer in Monterey, on Cannery Row (yes, Steinbeck's Cannery row, makes you want to go and read or reread it), you have Ben, a marine biologist, diver who is waiting for his daughter whom he sees very little of to move in for the summer. Caddie (named after a creature of the sea, won't spoil it for you) 16, is angry and not so happy to be dumped on her father's doorstep. Hudson, is on a quest to authenticate a manuscript maybe written by Steinbeck. It's a coming of age summer for all three. I liked the slow pace of the storyline. I liked that the characters were multidimensionals and that even the background characters like the girlfriend's waiter that befriends Caddie has depth. Yes the turning point of the story is a bit obvious in a duh!moment way but still believable since Ben is so oblivious of himself and the lives of the people around him.

I loved the diving sections. Really. The aquarium too. There's cuddlefish squids, octopuses, sharks. Mixed with academic literature research how could I not love this book.