Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper April Spisak Kulper, Kendall Salt & Storm. Little, 2014 398 p Library ed. ISBN 978-0-316-40456-3 $27.00 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-316-40451-8 $18.00 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-316-40450-1 $9.99 R Gr. 8–10 Hoping to assume the traditional role of island witch on her rocky Atlantic island, Avery has been learning the old magic ways from her grandmother. She’s therefore horrified by the decision of her mother, an orthodox member of their nineteenth-century whaling community, to keep Avery from her destiny. Enter Tane, an off-islander covered in magical tattoos, who offers to break her free of her mother’s Victorian constraints and help her get back to what Avery believes she wants. It’s a complex island, built on generations of magic, and once the witching stops, things fall apart socially—and literally, as many of the whaling ships were held together with spells. Avery’s understanding of what power means is one of the most intriguing and memorable elements in the novel; though people tell her multiple times that all is not as ideal as she believes, she doesn’t accept the truth until the town turns against her. The well-developed romance between Tane and Avery is searing, all the more so because readers will spot rather early on that no happy ending awaits them. An author’s note offers a bit about American whaling history and the convergence of multiple cultures on whaling ships, but enough context is given within the novel that this glimpse into the realistic elements isn’t necessary but is merely a nice bonus. Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois