dystopia, evil, good, friendship, teamwork
Orphans of the Tide
by Struan Murray
Key information
Author: Struan Murray
Illustrator: Manuel Sumberac
Release Date: 20th February 2020
Book type: Chapter, 352 pages, paperback
Star rating: ★★★★★
Reader level: Confident reader (8+) / Shared read (8+)
Series: First of 3
Age: Year 5+
Overview
Orphan Ellie lives in a dystopian world on the very tip of an island that was submerged during a great flood long ago. Since the disaster, survivors have made a new life for themselves in The City, but still live in fear of an evil being, The Enemy, (The God who Drowns the Gods) who wishes to destroy mankind. To keep their city safe from this evil, The Inquisition, a group of men who seek to destroy The Enemy, have taken control of the island and run The City through a regime of fear and terror.
The Enemy itself cannot be seen, but chooses a person's body as a vessel. Through this body, The Enemy is able to manipulate the host's thoughts and actions to wreak havoc in the world, bringing misery upon everyone they come into contact with. Knowing that the consequence of becoming the vessel is certain death, those who house The Enemy keep themselves hidden and live in fear of being identified. Likewise, the rest of the City live in fear of living alongside the Enemy, in the form of their friends, neighbours or family, and find themselves suspicious of everyone and betray anyone and everyone that they suspect to the Inquisition.
When a whale and a strange boy, Seth, wash up in the streets, Ellie fears that The City is about to make a huge mistake. With fear of the Enemy running high, the city's leaders prepare to burn him and rid the city of such great evil. However, something about this boy's strange appearance doesn't sit right with Ellie and she will do everything it takes to protect him from certain death. Ellie uses her talents as an inventor to sneak into the ceremonial burning of the boy and rescue him from his death. With the Inquisition determined to destroy the child, Ellie must keep him hidden while she plans his escape from the island.
However, Ellie has her own secrets to protect. Under the pressure of helping Seth, she begins to unravel and her deepest, darkest secrets begin to seep out into the unforgiving world outside of her workshop. Although her best friend, Anna, and her new friend, Seth, are willing to help, Ellie cannot bring herself to share her burden with even her closest friends. That leaves only her brother Finn, who constantly berates and goads Ellie with his incessant commentary, for company. Before long, the truth about Ellie can no longer remain hidden and she must work quickly to free herself from the shackles of her past.
Key concepts/themes
Considerations
- good and evil
- dystopian world
- fear and terror
- friendship
- loyalty
- determination
- morality
- death
- loss of parents
- loss of siblings
- grief
- mental health
- illness
Additional Teaching Opportunities
1. Geography
- Flooding
- Islands
2. DT
- make underwater vehicle
3. RSHE
- Honesty and dishonesty
- Mental health
- Grief and loss
4. Writing
- Setting description
- Character description
- Suspense writing
- Diary entry (based on Hestermeyer)
- Newspaper report (Seth washing up on the island)
- Chronological report (Seth's arrival)
- Diary entry (Ellie's life with Finn)
- Balanced argument (should Ellie tell the truth?)
Vocabulary
Orphans of the Tide contains some excellent tier 2 vocabulary and provides frequent opportunities for the explicit teaching of new words. It is particularly useful for powerful adjectives and verbs!
| Tier 2 | Tier 3 |
|---|---|
| reverberating, frenzied, staggered, draped, heaved, intensley, murky, angelic, eagerly, lurking, burly, grimaced, throng |
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