We Run the Tides

Gr 9 Up–Eulabee’s life in San Francisco in the mid-1980s is pleasant since she and her eighth-grade girlfriends are free to wander and explore Sea Cliff and the nearby beach. They all walk together to their private girls’ school, where they do well. One day on the way to school, Eulabee’s best friend claims she saw a dangerous man sitting in a car. Two of the girls agree with the story, but Eulabee says she saw nothing. This act sets in motion a chain of events that gets out of control. The author describes the feelings and thoughts of 13-year-olds quite well during that fateful school year. Teens will relate to Eulabee’s problems in a stressful situation. The final chapter skips ahead to 2019 when the girls are in their 50s, and readers learn what happened to them as adults—an interesting and satisfying conclusion. Eulabee’s mother is Swedish and the other girls are also cued as white.