> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # ‘The Highest Tide’ By Jim Lynch • Bloomsbury Publishing - URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-highest-tide-by-jim-lynch-bloomsbury-publishing/ - Published: 2008-03-14T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T23:40:53.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import *By By Dane Roberts Wans On Bookreview* The main character in this year’s Santa Monica Citywide Read, “The Higest Tide,” Miles O’Malley states early in the story, “I sometimes lied about where or when I saw things, but take that little misdirection away and I saw everything I said I saw and more.” This sets the tone for the entire text, which takes an innocent approach to complex subject matter. Miles is a 13-year-old boy whose main interest is the tides outside his seaside home. He is known to leave his room at night and glide around the bay in his kayak. He is a fan of Rachael Carson whom he mentions quite often. So much so that she becomes a character in this short 246 page work. Miles is just starting to notice things and is beginning to put things together. He is at the cusp of puberty. This summer will open the world to him. “People usually take decades to sort out their view of the universe, if they bother to sort at all. I did my sorting during one freakish summer in which I was ambushed by science, fame and suggestions of the divine,” he says in one of the more telling passages from the text. The story is told in first person from the viewpoint of Miles looking back and piecing things together. The author handles this viewpoint well. Even though it is told first-person through the eyes of a 13 year old, it is not really primarily a book for young adults. It is told from this viewpoint to emphasize the wonders of interfacing with ecology. But ecology isn’t the main thrust. Change over time and the permanence of the bay seems to be a theme. Reading it that way I am reminded of a song in the musical version of Edna Ferber’s “Show Boat.” “Old Man River. That Old Man River, he just keeps a’rolling along.” Even the tide seems to have symbolic meaning. Just as the tide is staring to peak, so does Miles’ sexuality and awareness. This story has delightful characters. Each one is seen through the eyes of youth. Let me mention a few. There are his parents who don’t communicate with each other or him. His father is concerned with height. Every month his father measures Miles to see if he has grown. Miles has a girlfriend in Angie who is an older woman w h o used to baby-sit him. She is now bipolar and strange when off her medication. There is Florence, the mystic, who is passing toward death on her own terms. There is the reporter who thinks there is a story in Miles and his interest in the tides. The whole story comes to a head when a high tide comes in and threatens to wipe out the small village around the southern end of Puget Sound. Science tried to explain it. “But,” Miles concludes, “I saw gaps between what the scientists said and what actually happened.” Each of our city libraries has copies of “The Highest Tide” on the shelves. But don’t worry if they are checked out when you go seeking a copy. In order for everybody to have a change to read it, a limited amount of books will be delivered to our branches to be handed out. Just ask at the information desk. I enjoyed the book and I know the discussion groups are going to have a lot to talk about. Discussion groups will be held April 12 to May 17, 2008\. The venues are yet to be established. DANE ROBERT SWANSON lives and writes in Santa Monica. He is eager to hear from you his readers. So just drop him a line at and let him know how you are. He answers each e-mail sent. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 14, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031408.pdf?ref=smdp.com)