Just the book to continue to add to our collection as we continue to grow the number of survival stories we have to lend out. Nail biting feels an understatement!

An alright middle grade/younger YA survival story about two teens who get separated from their boat during a diving excursion. Pro tip: all sharks are different. They do not all look alike.

Watt Key delivers another South Alabama survival adventure with Deep Water. Julie, a twelve-year-old girl, takes over a chartered scuba trip when her father falls ill. Disaster strikes leaving Julie to figure out how to keep their clients and herself alive while avoiding sharks, storms, and the elements. Fans of Watt Key will not be disappointed with his latest survival story.

Slow start but then quick read. Great characters that have to survive when things go amiss on their scuba diving adventure. Characters were well written and it was great to see how they changed through out the story because of what they faced.

Watt key continues to impress readers! Always full of adventure and keeping the reader on their seats wanting more! This one is no exception!

Watt Key brings the suspense and action again.
In this book Julie and her dad take a father and son out to a new scuba site. But then everything goes wrong - her dad gets sick, the anchor breaks free, the father and son stay down too long and when they come up the boy is gone and the father is suffering from the bends. And that is just the first few chapters.
Can Julie and her passengers survive the deep water?
This was pretty intense and just when you thought they had survived one aspect of the ordeal they encounter more trouble. There were definitely aspects that will make adults say "really??" but student readers won't care and will eat this up.

Julie is spending the summer with her father, and helping with his dive business. Her parents separated because her mother didn't find the career opportunities she wanted in their small Southern town, but moving to the big city doesn't seem to have made her happy. When Julie's father doesn't feel well, he send Julie with the father and son clients on a dive. Once down, both the father and son disregard Julie's directions, and before long, things start to go really wrong. The anchor wasn't seated correctly, and the trio loses the boat and Julie's father. They manage to survive by floating, but as they are drifting out to sea, sharks attack, and Shane's father slips away from them. Shane and Julie manage to hold on, drinking rain water and trying to cover themselves from the sun, and eventually wind up on an abandoned oil rig. There, they manage to survive by raising the stores and catching fish, but the mold in the rig makes Shane very ill. Julie hopes to flag down help, but no one knows where they are. Will the two be able to survive?
Strengths: The note at the end of this was very fascinating-- Key had an experience as a teenager that could easily have ended the way this adventure did, but he was lucky. Survival stories are always popular, and Key knows just the right details to put into them. There are a couple of other books that detail surviving at sea, but the twist of finding an abandoned oil rig was what set this one apart. This will definitely be popular. The other thing I love about Key's writing is that he will work in some serious family issues as well, but show the children who are affected by them as being resilient and resourceful.
Weaknesses: Reading about damp and mold... *shudder.* Also, I wish that Julie and her father had better safety plans in place, but then the book wouldn't have been able to happen!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and this will be popular.

This was a great survival. It kept me interested the entire time. I will definitely recommend this to my students who like a good adventure.

I love Watt Key's books so I was excited to read this latest one. It did not disappoint. I really liked this book and can't wait to get a hard copy of this. This will be a great read for reluctant readers. Full of action and suspense, I would recommend this for fans of Hatchet and those who like Watt's other books. I love that Watt sets all his books in Alabama. I have visited the Gulf many times and knowing the area makes his books even more exciting. Great job once again Mr. Key!