title: Undertow (The Undertow Trilogy)
author:  Michael Buckley 
description: Gr 8 UpIn his first YA novel, Buckley delivers a solidly entertaining adventure with the perfect amount of romance and danger. Lyric Walker used to be a "wild thing." At 14, she and her friends ruled the dilapidated beach community of Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY. Then one night, Lyric witnesses the arrival of the Alpha, strange creatures from the depths of the ocean, and learns a terrible secret her family has been keeping from her. Three years later, Coney Island is a police state, with the Alpha living in a containment camp on the beach, and furious protestors roam the streets. When six Alpha teenagers are forcibly integrated into the public high school, Lyric's complicated web of hidden truths threatens to unravel. In Lyric, Buckley has created a phenomenal new heroine. Smart and snarky, with rough edges and killer fashion sense, Lyric is a girl to be celebrated. Sharp political commentary and strong parallels to the treatment of minorities in the U.S. ground the world in reality, while the well-rounded and ethnically diverse supporting cast will cause readers to root for them. The climax feels a bit rushed, as revelations and plot developments quickly pile up, but the breathtaking action and cliff-hanger conclusion will leave teens desperate for more. VERDICT Give this one to fans of Suzanne Collins's "The Hunger Games" trilogy (Scholastic) searching for the next big thing.Elisabeth Gattullo Marrocolla, Darien Library, CT
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  ![Undertow title](../Images/image00152.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In some ways, I was so ordinary. Waking up in bed with my Paul, my surfer
  boyfriend, our life filled with sandy toes and tan lines. I stocked books
  during the day and danced with him to Bob Marley at night.
  
  
  In other ways, I was unordinary. I'd dust off the sand and step into Stewart's
  limousine. Zip up my evening gown and slide into my other life. Champagne and
  maid service. Orgasms and my businessman.
  
  
  My life was a tide, pulling me back and forth between the two men. Soothing.
  Peaceful.
  
  
  Then the undertow came, pulling my lives together, my men colliding, my breath
  shortening, arms flaying against the current, my heart breaking in its
  strength.
  
  
  I should have known it would never work out.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Other Books by Alessandra Torre:](part0003.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 1](part0005.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [3 Months Earlier](part0006.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 2](part0007.xhtml