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Thomasina Tissue grew up in Setauket, Long Island. Captured in her heart at a young age, her stories are woven from a tapestry of a time spent, long ago, in the salty ocean air, walking along beaches, laughing with friends, and mixing her own wild imagination with regular and not-so-regular things that happened to her. And there the stories bided their time for over forty years. After leaving Long Island, she grew, married, and became a teacher of reading and writing, all the while continuing to feel the longing to write her own stories. When she retired from teaching, her husband asked her if she would like a special gift. She fluttered her eyelashes at him and said, “I’d love a laptop.” Thinking this was a slightly strange request, he asked, “Whatever for?” She responded, “I have stories in me that need to come out!” Three months later she had completed the first draft of The Water’s Edge, her first middle-grade fiction work. The Water’s Edge was inspired by the original Setalcott people of the Setauket area. It is about a girl named Tanya who finds herself in a race to save an ancient artifact. Tanya must come up with a way to help her friend, and outsmart Checkmate, before her beloved friend Jack loses his home.
Besides writing, Thomasina’s favorite things to do are yoga, travel, practice Spanish and love on her sweet daughter Emma, and husband Dan, and not all in that order.
Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
The Water's Edge by Thomasina Tissue is told from the perspective of Tanya, who alongside Steven visits Jack, who once saved a child and is now fighting a legal dispute over his land. Tanya and Steven witness the discovery of an energy-emitting artifact during an archaeological dig. Believing the pendant is tied to a Sesaquet legend, they plan to retrieve it for Jack, a Sesaquet, by breaking into a museum. With Tommy’s help, they prepare for the heist. Tanya makes two unique discoveries: one in her special box, and the other when she overhears another plot to steal the pendant by two men connected to the dig. Determined to thwart them, coordinating with Ryan and Steven, the group prepares meticulously for the heist, dividing roles and planning their approach to retrieve the pendant during a museum event.
The Water's Edge by Thomasina Tissue was a lot of fun to read, and even as an adult, I found it to be a delightful bit of escapism. I love a good heist and am more inclined to it when the group not only has a valiant motive but also when they are underdogs. And who is a greater underdog than kids up against skilled conmen? What I really enjoyed the most though was Tissue giving extremely deep insight into the Setalcott tribe, who were almost completely decimated after many millennia of life after the arrival of Europeans, as part of the story. Tissue does well in giving us hidden metaphors, the standout to me being that we cannot simply bury the past. As soon as the digging starts, literally, pieces of the past resurface. We may not be responsible for what happened, but we are accountable, and Tanya is willing to risk all to right what she can of past wrongs. For the author to weave this tightly into a chapter book for children is remarkable. Very highly recommended.
