I just finished Wavewalker, and I could not put it down! It was fascinating, and heartbreaking, and I was left with so many questions. I had to look up the author to find out more about what her and her family are doing now, and have even more questions.
Here are my thoughts. I don’t expect anyone to have answers to most of my questions, but I just need to get everything out and have some discussion around the book.
>!What happened to Teddy??!<
Why did Sue’s mother >!go along with sailing for so long if she didn’t like it?!<
I was a little disappointed to learn that Sue ended up >!in a corporate job and not studying biology/zoology or something similar.!<
I’m sad that >!Sue and Jon didn’t have much of a relationship. Especially during their time in New Zealand.!<
I was so sad about what happened to >!Wavewalker and that she never found her. It was apparent that Sue really loved her despite her hatred of the situation. By the end of the book I loved her too.!<
Near the end of the book, >!when Sue went back to see her parents on Wavewalker, her Dad marked the wrong spot on the chart. Was that supposed to be a point that her dad was losing his sharpness? Or maybe that he was never the great sailor that she had thought when she was a child?!<
But, I am impressed that her Dad was so resourceful and was actually a very competent sailor – >!Getting through the storm (the Wave), being able to navigate without satellite and learning how to use the sextant, and being able to do all the repairs and maintenance.!< I don’t know anything about sailing and the ocean scares me, so that is really impressive to me.
It was really sad that her parents didn’t >!show her more care during and after the storm when she was injured. I think her Dad really loved her, but he loved sailing more. And her mom, well her mom was a terrible parent.!<
If Sue >!had been allowed to help sail more, do you think her experience would have been more positive? And her relationship with her brother would be better?!<
I’m interested in reading her Dad’s book to see his perspective. And did he ever go sailing again?
How did Jon >!end up doing well in school and going on to college? I read an interview where he said loved their time sailing. It’s sad that Sue had a different experience.!<
Has Sue been sailing again?
by tokyoswan