The Call of the Running Tide: A Portrait of an Island Family

Captures the way of life of the Joyces, a fishing family on Swans Island off the coast of Maine, as they spend their lives harvesting the bounty of the sea

Grade 4-6-- Located off the northern coast of Maine, Swans Island provides a perfect harbor and a unique way of life for a small number of fishermen and their families. This photodocumenatry describes a year with one such family, the Joyces. Graff's evocative text and Howard's abundant and carefully composed black-and-white photos convey the relentless demands of lobstering that have set the pattern of family life for three generations. True to tradition, teenage Josh and his younger sisters share in the work. While honing their fishing skills, they develop a deep appreciation for the beauty and dignity of a life tied to the sea. This artful blending of text and photos provides an accurate description of an arduous business. An excellent introduction to a little-known lifestyle on a remote and harshly beautiful island. --Maggie McEwen, formerly at Coffin Elementary School, Brunswick, ME
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A sympathetic, realistic portrait of a lobster-trapping family on Swan's Island, Maine, showing their activities throughout the year. Graff and Howard depict all of the Joyces--men, women, boys, and girls--working long, hard hours at the trade they love. Their life, though stable, is not static: people come and go; jobs change and they have to adjust. Graff's style is very expressive of feelings, which may induce readers to consider what it would be like to live this way. The lovely b&w photos are so well composed and well placed that no captions are necessary; the eye easily alternates between words and images. Environmental problems are barely hinted at--e.g., the overharvesting of food fish that led to their disappearance and the state regulation of lobstering. The book's most useful feature may be its clear presentation of how lobsters are caught, though nothing in the CIP data denotes this as a subject. An unusually evocative portrayal of a region. (Nonfiction. 10-18) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.