Tilda's fifteen and in Grade 10, and with exams and senior secondary school coming up, the pressures on for her to figure out what she's going to do with her life - the problem is, she has no idea what she wants to do. One night, she stumbles across a pregnant elephant seal on the beach, and this chance encounter has a big impact on her life.I loved this for how real it was. I could so relate to how Tilda felt about her life. It didn't rely on high-drama events to make for an interesting story. Everythin was believable - the dialogue, Tilda's relationships with other people, Tilda herself... It wasn't a book that packed a huge emotional punch, but I really enjoyed reading it.
I think there was slightly too much going on at times in this book, and I really wished that we got to know some of the characters better. We got to know Tilda really well, her life, and the plotline involving the seals, but so many other things were only mentioned in passing - I would've loved to have gotten to know Bella a little more, and I felt we didn't know a whole lot about Shell and her family, either. Eddie Maloney felt a little one-dimensional to me (this may have been due to the fact we were in Tilda's head, though). I would've liked to have known more about Mr Hensley and his wife, too. All of the characters in this book were really interesting, and I wanted to get to know them all a little better.
I'd strongly recommend this book to girls fourteen and up. Tilda is a wonderful character, and her uncertainty about her future is definitely something teenage girls will be able to empathise with.
