Rick Riordan combines his knowledge and passion for the ocean with his love of Captain Nemo's story in this action-packed, exhilarating, Jules Verne-inspired sea adventure.
Harding-Pencroft Academy (HP) is a high school in Southern California that produces the world's best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators and underwater explorers. It's the home of 14-year-old Bundeli Indian American Ana Dakkar and her older brother, Dev, whose parents died on a scientific expedition two years ago. Ana is on the way to her end-of-year trials when HP is attacked--150 people, including Dev, and an aquarium of marine animals all gone instantly. The 20 remaining HP students learn that their rival high school, Land Institute (LI), launched the preemptive strike. For the past 150 years, the two schools have battled over scientific advances (alt-tech) created by the thought-to-be-fictional Captain Nemo, from Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Ana, who learns she's a descendent of Nemo, is suddenly thrust into leading a race against LI to a secret base that holds Nemo's most advanced technology and artifacts. With the help of her crew, Ana must safeguard her ancestor's legacy before it falls into the wrong hands.
Through Ana's story, Riordan explores the concept of good versus bad, including how a person or thing can be labeled as both, depending on who's doing the labeling. While HP views Captain Nemo as a genius submarine captain, LI thinks he was a raging madman outlaw. Riordan ties this idea into a discussion about how absolute power can corrupt people, governments and corporations. These more serious discussions, along with the inclusion of marine biology and AI concepts, are balanced by unexpected twists, heart-pounding action and vivid language. --Lana Barnes, freelance reviewer and proofreader