Water, Water, by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Jon McNaught

Water, Water, by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Jon McNaught (March 2022, Tundra Books), arrived this past weekend, my first Cybils Awards review copy.  I was curious about this one, so was very pleased to get a chance to read this dreamlike story of a flooded world, and was not disappointed.   (I am pleased as well that it will be joining the ranks of the Ocean State Libraries' mg spec fic collection, taking its place alongside many other fine books from Cybils of years past....)

Rafe wakes to find his room is floating on a vast ocean, with no land in site.  His room has separated from the rest of the house, and he has no idea what has happened or if his parents (or anyone else in the world, for that matter) are still alive.  He and his dog are all there is.  Things float by, and although the woman playing a chello on her own raft is too far away to be pulled close, Rafe fishes out what he can...Fortunately the flotsam includes cans of food, and Rafe works hard not to think about all his many many questions.   He even finishes his homework.

Gradually the desert island of his room broadens with the arrival of a younger girl, Dao, from Thailand, floating on an air mattress, and life in the room and its roof becomes more companionable. Dao is quick to learn enough English to communicate (Rafe's Thai doesn't get very far, but Dao has the advantage of having watched American tv), and Rafe reads her the one book that was in the room, the story of a girl and a magical rabbit, which gives them a lovely bit of escape from reality.

Though not much Happens (the one Action-y bit it is an attack by teenage pirates, successfully fended off, the dreamlike happenings do move the two kids and the dog towards a more hopeful place (though still a shattered/broken/flooded one). We never find out details of what exactly happened and how widespread the flooding is and all the other climate dystopian details (in fact though it is about global flooding, it didn't strike me as being About climate disaster).  This lack of any context verges on being vexing, but such details would have destroyed the beautifully surreal quality of the story that I appreciated lots.  Read in a single sitting.

Because there are no answers, this isn't one for the kid who wants to know why and how and where.  But for the young daydreamer it would make a lovely gift!