Salt

Hannah Moskowitz

Oct 2018 · Chronicle Books

About this ebook

Roaming the Mediterranean Sea on sailboats and hunting down monsters is the only life seventeen-year-old Indi and his siblings have ever known. He never loved it, but now that his parents are gone—vanished during a hunt three months ago—it's harder and harder to fight his desire to escape. He's constantly battling his ferocious love for his siblings and the temptation of his parents' journal, which contains directions to a treasure that their parents hinted at. Maybe it's something valuable enough to distract Beleza from her mission to hunt down the monster that killed their parents. Something that would take the little kids away from the sea that's turning Oscar into a pirate and wasting Zulu's brilliant six-year-old mind. Something that could give Indi a normal life.

Acclaimed author Hannah Moskowitz has reinvented yet another genre in this ridiculously propulsive epic that is part seafaring epic, part coming-of-age tale, and a totally warm-hearted story of a boy who loves his family and just wants to figure his own self out—if only the fate of the world weren't on his shoulders.

Ratings and reviews

Salt is like an ode to Supernatural – it has the essential elements: siblings who are brought up by hunters, parents are missing, complicated sibling dynamics with one wanting to continue as a hunter and the other yearning for a simpler life. Indi, the protagonist of this story, has practically raised his two younger siblings with Beleza, his older sister since a long time, even before their parents disappeared three months ago. Now, adrift and looking for clues to their disappearance, the four of them continue sailing, fighting monsters, and hoping to find them again, or if not, get revenge. Along the way, Indi reevaluates what he wants from his life, what he feels about their hunting, and finally getting a choice in the matter. The monster-hunting angle of this story is not delved into much, which was perhaps the one downside of the story. It appears like there is a whole lore of these sea monsters, and a network of hunters in the life, but most of that is just skimmed over like we are supposed to be familiar with it. It takes away from the excitement of the hunts, because I literally had no clue what the monsters actually LOOKED like. (I just went like – ah, a kraken, I guess? – every time) It is more a character-driven plotline that focuses on Indi, and him finally taking a stand in the direction of his life. The relationship between the siblings is rendered in its messy yet heartwarming glory. Having known only each other for most of their lives, and very less time on land, they are practically glued to each other and the little independence Indi gains gives him a taste of the life he could lead. There is also a whole arc about him figuring out what happiness means to him. Among the siblings, Beleza is a firebrand who wants to continue hunting and Oscar, a master thief, wants to also do the same. Zulu, however, is too young and Indi worries about the kind of life she and Oscar are being brought up into. The way each of these relationships, between the four of them, is played out, is well-written, giving weight to each arm of this convoluted frame. Also, I loved the fact of them communicating in four different languages mixed up; it was amusing, though – the book being in English even though none of them speak it. Aside from them, there is another secondary character, Hura, who plays an important role for a bit, but then the ending sort of pushed her out? She was a nice catalyst, but otherwise not all that relevant. Avraham sounded like he could be interesting, but the small plotline of the cash register was also abandoned. Eventually, though, this is a standalone and I guess I can forgive it for those threads but it still niggled me a bit. Overall, a good adventure story with some heartwarming characterization.

About the author

Hannah Moskowitz is the author of many books for teenagers, including A History of Glitter and Blood and Gena/Finn, both awarded the Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year. She lives in Maryland.