In a fantasy world that resembles a steampunk historical fiction, 11-year-old Fidelia Quail is devastated by the loss of her parents to a strong winter storm at sea. Trying to adjust to her new life living with her librarian aunt, Fidelia’s fortunes only get worse when she is kidnapped by pirates who demand she help them recover treasure from the bottom of the ocean floor. As this unlikely crew hits the open seas with the Navy on their heels and death rattling for the pirate captain, Fidelia has to race against the clock to finish her invention that will help her breathe underwater to dive for the treasure.

So, this book got some glowing reviews from professional reviewers, but I can’t help but think they were viewing this book as their adult selves and not as the intended audience of young readers. There are a LOT of reasons I think kids won’t like this book.

For starters, this book is 423 pages long. That’s intimidating, and most kids aren’t going to pick up something that long unless it’s part of a popular series or from a best-selling author (neither are the case here). The book jacket flap summary begins with "When her parents, the great marine scientists Dr. and Dr. Quail, are killed in a tragic accident, eleven-year-old Fidelia Quail is racked by grief." Although it goes on to describe pirate attacks and adventure, that first line might be enough for potential readers to close the book.

Chapter one begins with a detailed description of making chum out of mashed fish guts and gallons of blood. While many middle-grade readers are obsessed with the 'gross' and bodily functions, those kids aren't always the same ones wanting to read lengthy tomes. On its own, this wouldn't be a sticking point, but combined with all the factors, it gives me pause...

This continues on with numerous other far too descriptive passages of violence against the human body. For example, a description of a cannon fight between the pirates and the navy is thusly written: "The slick of his deck boards, blood rolling along their surface and dripping off into the sea. The sight of a head lolling against his feet -- one of his crew members, but drenched, and disfigured, like a bruised fruit. The sounds -- oh, god, the sounds of the slaughter. ... The cries of his crew -- grown men and women who had lost limbs for him over the years, and tattooed their skin with the tips of their blades on a wavering sea, and survived the near starvation and mental torture of long journeys. Never, never had Merrick heard them cry like this -- the wail of beasts, trapped and awaiting their certain death." Or another passage from the admiral of the navy: "But I've never seen a monster like Merrick. He didn't just abandon rank and leave the base as any decent officer would have done. No, he had to make a grand exit. He and that -- that fiend, Charlie, they took one of the frigates one night and threw its crew overboard. They set off explosions all along the fort. Those who weren't blown completely into pieces had to search for their own legs among the debris." This passages are well written -- for adults. This is not the kind of language I would recommend for children; it is just far too disturbing in its details.

Other bits of the writing style are even less compelling. For instance, on page 7, the narration describes the child protagonist as the "loin fruit" of her parents. I'm pretty sure I rolled my eyes at this point. Page 25 introduces the "catchphrase" to describe the dastardly storm: "During the Undertow, anything can happen." So catchy that I probably rolled my eyes again.

An interlude between chapters 3 and 4 goes back in time two years to introduce a character we haven't heard of yet. These "two years earlier" interludes continue throughout the book and feature only adult characters; many of them concern a love/lost love story between the pirate captain and an unnamed lady. While I found these some of the most interesting parts of the book personally, they aren't really the type of thing to appeal to young readers. The 'big reveal' from this part is also predictable by about a mile away, although I do have to admit seeing if I was right (I was) was one thing that kept me reading to the end -- that and my inability to just let a book go, no matter how bad it is or how little I am enjoying it. In a much further flashback, the meeting of these two star-crossed lovers is described with a little bit of innuendo, including the use of the word "sensuous." Not hardcore by any stretch of the imagination, but again perhaps not the best language for the target audience.

Speaking of chapters, many of the chapters in this book, especially right at the beginning, tend to be on the longer side (15-20 pages), which I always think is a mistake whether in a book for children, teens, or adults. Short chapters make a book more of a page turner (and could help compensate for the fact that it's more than 400 pages long!). Lengthier chapters make for a slower pace, adding to the feeling that the book is interminably long.

Despite how I usually enjoy when a villain is humanized, the pirate captain here is given too much sympathy and forgiveness. At the end of the day, he is still an arsonist, thief, and murderer. It doesn't matter that he loved a good person wholeheartedly or that he didn't actually hurt Fidelia (when he needed her expertise to get something anyway). He was still a bad person, and the book gives way too much heroism to him.

On the flip side, Admiral Bridgewater is made into too much of a villain; his character is almost comically one note. Furthermore, since he is the nominal 'bad guy,' he is predictably a fat person. Repeatedly the only thing used to describe him is his "bulk." Worse still, the description given to his girth most often involve animalistic characteristics -- piggie eyes, ham head, sausage fingers. This isn't the only book to do this but for goodness's sake, children's authors need to cease equating evil with fat and good with thin. Just stop already.

On the plus side, the book does show women being fearless and in roles that defy gender stereotypes -- Bloody Elle is a fierce and strong pirate/crew member; Fidelia is an inventor; Fidelia's mother was a Ph.D. level marine biologist. However, as is too often the case, the author does occasionally fall into some gender traps such as describing "manning a ship." Oh well, these things happen....

The steampunk setting may be striking to some, but again I think that tends to be a genre that has more appeal to adults than children. It may not be super obvious to some of the younger readers that this is indeed a fantasy world and not a historical one, especially if they don’t grasp the nuances (e.g., “nine seas” instead of seven).

By the end of the book, many seemingly inconsequential bits from the beginning of the book all the way on through come together. While I did like that, it felt like there was just too long of a wait for this payoff. This book really could have been about a hundred pages shorter and been just as good -- indeed, it would probably be better with much tighter writing and a more compelling flow. Instead, it was clunky and took a lot of effort to convince myself to keep picking it up and finally finish it. I can’t imagine kids will be more into it, although there might be some who just really enjoy pirates, sharks, and all things oceans enough to want to read this -- and stick with it all the way until the end. ( )

Fidelia Quail has always taken an active part in her parents' marine biology expeditions and come up with a number of inventions to help them in their work. One day, while her parents are in the submersible Fidelia designed and she is looking for sharks to tag, a big storm comes up and her parents are lost. Fidelia goes to live with her librarian aunt but it isn't long before she is kidnapped by a pirate, Merrick the Monstrous, who wants her to retrieve his treasure from an underwater cave. While Merrick seems a typically ruthless, avaricious pirate, flashbacks reveal a touching backstory that makes sense of his desire to reclaim his treasure.
This is a great pirate adventure story with a dash of humour and a soupcon of marine science thrown in, however, it also has its darker moments. It features a clever and courageous heroine who is likeable but not perfect. Fidelia, with her gumption and love of science, is an excellent role model for tween girls. It is not clear where or when this book is set - possibly an alternate Earth - but this does not matter. At over 400 pages in length this book will probably only appeal to keen readers but it would also make an excellent read-aloud ( )

The story starts peacefully with eleven-year-old Fidelia Quail out on a boat on the last day of the season, looking to tag sharks, while her parents are down below in a submersible that she designed and built herself. However, it quickly turns dark when a big storm blows in and her parents don't make it back to shore. Fidelia barely has time to grieve before she is kidnapped by pirates because of her ocean expertise and inventing skills and is forced to help them in their search for lost treasure.

So ... wow. I was honestly shocked by how dark and bleak this book got. One specific story line had an inevitable tragic ending with no hope of change offered at all. There was another whose best possible outcome was still incredibly heartbreaking. And this story did not have jovial, cartoony pirates. They were weather-beaten and disciplined and, quite frankly, usually heartless and self-serving. I was surprised by all of this but also impressed that Eagar didn't water the tale down (bad ocean pun). But all of the dark stuff also helped Fidelia's bravery and intelligence shine brighter. She also made me regret not being an active marine scientist. Damn that mal de mer.

http://webereading.com/2017/10/ripxii-18-new-release-race-to-bottom-of.html ( )

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Fidelia is not quite prepared for an adventure right now.

Her parents were just hopelessly drowned in the Undertow all because she told them the storm was far off. She's mourning for goodness sake and her whole future hangs in balance. EVERYTHING is changing.

This is a super, super bad time for her to be abducted by pirates.

Unfortunately for Fidelia, this is one of those instances where her opinion doesn't matter very much, so kidnapped she is and bundled aboard the Jewel to sail with fearsome Captain Merrick the Monstrous and his crew of miscreants. Her task? Retrieve Merrick's treasure from the bottom of the sea. If she fails, she'll walk the plank.

I would have LOVED this story as a kid.

It's a long one, over 400 pages, but it moves quickly. There's flashbacks of both Fidelia's experiences and Merrick's, and just enough scientific explanation for make it interesting BUT not too much that the story gets confusing or riddled with facts. To be honest, it doesn't feel like there's much scientific basis for Fidelia's experiments (which is probably why the author doesn't deeply explain their mechanics) but a little suspension of disbelief, and it's excellent.

Also... PIRATES. There are not enough pirate books. These pirates are likable, and the bloodshed is minimal. There is death and dying though so that may be something to know. No gruesome bloody pirate deaths, mostly "disappearances," so the gore is really a non-issue.

I believe there will be illustrations in the finished version? I had placeholders, so I expect pretty science-related diagrams will make it to the final version.

Overall I liked it.

I thought this was a fun novel, fast-moving, and sure to capture the attention of a younger audience.

I would rate this as a must-read for MG readers who like adventure stories. ( )