• Age: 9 to 13
• Grade: 4 to 8
• Reading age: 9 to 13

It was supposed to be a homecoming and reunion, but when Anne Tennyson Miller (Tenn to her friends and family) returns to Driftwood Bay with her new friend Una, they find a ghost town.

Something has gone terribly wrong in the world. The sea is rising fast, and everyone - almost everyone - has fled to the hills. Danger and treachery lurk on a highway littered with abandoned cars and possessions, and the girls, along with two young strangers who conceal a mystery of their own, head across country. They climb through the wilderness in hopes of finding the Miller family and safety, perhaps, from the relentless tide. But their adventures have only begun . . .

"Givner's characters are so real that the reader will have no problem identifying with them" - CM Magazine.

"Her writing is crisp and clear, while her ability to wrap up the story, and prepare for a sequel is absolutely wonderful." - Erika Sorocco, reviewer
"The several threads of the story weave together without fanfare but with a calm assurance that creates a sturdy sense of character and believability" - Kirkus reviews

Joan Givner was born in Manchester, England, in 1936. After studying at London University and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, she began teaching at the Unviersity of Regina in 1965; later she edited the Wascana Review. She has published biographies of Katherine Anne Porter (1982) and Mazo de la Roche (1989) and two collections of stories, most recently Scenes from Provincial Life (1991). "Elizabeth," a prize winner in the 1991 CBC Canadian Literary Awards, was published in a Joan Givner Special Issue of Room of One's Own in 1992.

Joan Givner's profile page