Summary of the Highest Tide by Jim Lynch

Introduction paragraph
The highest tide is about a 13 year old miles O’Malley who’s growing up and learning to deal with daily and social change. The main idea or theme to this book would be change it happens and we cant help it but we have to learn to deal with it. Miles life starts out normal parents together but as the story progresses his social life and the physical world around him changes some things spiral out of control but towards the end everything falls into the right place.

Body paragraph #1
Miles social life begins pretty normally, he lives with both parents, and miles specializes in sea life. He’s rather faun of it he knows quite a bit. On another note he’s in love with the girl next door Angie. “People usually take decades to sort out their view of the universe, if they sort it out at all I did my sorting out during one freaking summer in which I was ambushed by science, fame and suggestions of the divine” (Miles O’Malley page 2) The proof support the overall theme of the novel because miles starts out with his toe in the water (metaphorically speaking ) with his interest in sea life and their habitats he goes from sneaking out at night to see the ocean to grabbing a friend Phelps and collecting sea life from the tide mostly geo ducks which he can sell to a restaurant .

Body paragraph #2
More towards the end of the book miles does grow up in fact he goes to a night club with Angie and Phelps if you can believe that. So miles does mature and grow up a bit and he learned to adapt to change but his love for the sea never changed. “What got me going is when I learned that about 80 percent of life is in the ocean” – (Miles O’Malley p.170) In the beginning Miles interest was a hobby but later on we see that it’s a lifestyle that might even blossom into a career. Not only has he changed but so has his small town the tide has risen to a unbelievable amount and the local physic predicted it and she was right. Conclusion

Miles O’Malley is a boy who found his meaning of life which was more along the lives of sea life. And one thing I did enjoy about the book through it all angie’s mental disease and him being rejcted angie and Miles finally end together alone on the ocean miles has it all the ocean and the girl he always wanted.