Ingo

“Ingo’s a place that has many names, ” says Granny Carne. “You can call it Mer, Mare, or Meor…Earth and Ingo don’t mix, even though we live side by side. Earth and Ingo aren’t always friends…”

Despite Granny Carne’s words, in Helen Dunmore’s fantastic fantasy Earth and Ingo do mix–with consequences. Ingo is set partially above ground in modern day Cornwall and partially below the surface of the water in Ingo.

Ingo features Sapphire Trewhella (also known as Saph or Sapphy). Sapphy takes after her father, Matthew Trewhella, in that she has always been drawn to the sea. She recalls, “Dad used to say that the sea doesn’t hate you and it doesn’t love you. It’s up to you to learn its ways and keep yourself show more safe.”

It’s “Dad used to say” because her father has disappeared. His boat, the Peggy Gordon, was found without him in it, and he is presumed drowned. Sapphy, however, suspects her father’s disappearance has something to do with Ingo. She recalls her father singing, “I wish I was away in Ingo; Far across the briny sea, Sailing over deepest waters; Where love nor care never trouble me…”

Her father’s disappearance certainly troubles her and causes trouble for her family. Her mother is forced to work all the time at her waitressing job and, consequently, her older brother Conor and Sapphy spend much time by themselves.

When one day Sapphy cannot find Conor, she fears that he has disappeared just like her father. She heads out to the cove to look for him, and she finds him talking to Elvira the mermaid. This leads to her encounter with Faro the merman who takes her on a journey under the sea. On this journey, she lets go of Earth completely and becomes a part of Ingo.

Sapphy and Conor are welcomed into Ingo because they each have a little Mer in them (long story that goes into family lore about the disappearance of a previous Matthew Trewhella), but Sapphy seems to have even a little more than her brother. Her draw to the sea becomes increasingly strong after she’s been a part of it. Not-too-subtle warning signals such as a new found taste for salting her water and consuming anchovies begin to alarm Conor while her mother appears largely ignorant of all goings on. With Conor’s help, Sapphy struggles to resist the pull of Ingo.

Yet, despite her resistance, Sapphy continues to find Ingo and Faro seductive. When she’s in Ingo, nothing else seems to matter–not time, not Conor, not Earth, not humanity in general. When she’s not in Ingo but back on Earth, she finds so many troubles weighing her down–she feels in her bones that her father is still alive but he’s made no attempt to contact her, her mother has given up on her father coming back and is becoming romantically involved with a diver named Roger (a diver who’s getting increasingly close to encroaching upon Ingo), and her mother is dead set against her getting a dog (when Sapphy already has the perfect one picked out!).

Ingo takes on the struggle between two worlds, between two types of people, between two ways of life. The struggle between Ingo and Earth has its parallel struggle within Sapphy’s family where the impetuousness of Sapphy and her father frequently clashes with the practical nature of Conor and her mother. This struggle comes to the fore in the latter part of Ingo when Roger decides he wants to dive in areas where, unbeknownst to him, he is not welcomed.

Dunmore’s characters are flawed yet still developing and changing just as the world is flawed yet still developing and changing (the latter we have the privilege to participate in changing). Ingo is top-notch fantasy while also speaking to family dynamics, individual choices, willpower, self-discovery, and imagination.

Ingo–with its tagline “In a world without air all you breathe is adventure”–will likely be popular with middle grade fantasy fans of both genders. Ingo is Book One in a planned tetralogy–Ingo, The Tide Knot, The Deep, and The Crossing of Ingo (the final two are more difficult to attain from within the US since HarperCollins just published the US edition of The Tide Knot in January 2008). For more on the series immediately, visit Helen Dunmore’s site or Harper Collin’s Ingo site (including a video book trailer). The pull of Ingo is strong, who can resist? show less

Sappy's father disappears one night into the sea under mysterious circumstances. Since then, she is drawn to the sea and discovers the Mer living right off the coast of Cornwall. In the first of a trilogy, Sappy learns of this new undersea land, realizes she is part of the Mer, and helps save the man who is courting her mother.

It will be interesting to see where this trilogy is headed. The undersea world seems more realistic than that imagined for most mermaid stories and makes this pedestrian story more intriguing than it might otherwise be. Although a little draggy in parts, this book will be enjoyed by mermaid fans and by girls who enjoy strong female characters. Older elementary, middle school.

Sapphire and her brother Conor live in Cornwall beside the sea and tragedy starts the story with the disappearance of their father, when he goes out in his fishing boat. Then the story takes a stranger twist when the two children start meeting with Merrows or Merpeople, who take them to explore their strange underwater world and the two children have to make a choice between life on land and life in the water.

It's an interesting exploration of the myths and legends of sea people and the relationship those people have with land-people. It's interesting and the story flowed well. I'm looking forward to exploring more stories by this author.

Sapphire and Connor have grown up on the coast of Cornwall with the ocean as a constant companion. Although their family wasn't always in harmony, they were always together. Connor like their mother and Sapphire like their father. Then one day their father went to the ocean and never returned.

Now they're a family of three and Sapphire feels the emptiness in her life every day. Then something new came, a calling that Sapphire and Connor can feel in their bones. The call of another world that meets but is always separate from our own. An ocean world where mythology is real and secrets are discovered.

I really enjoyed this story of another world which lives beside our own. I also liked the two main characters of Sapphire and her brother show more Connor. Although they did have the customary sibling squables I really thought the trust and support they showed to one another gave the story its emotional depth. The author has created an interesting and unique mythology of earth magic and sea magic which seems as though it might warrant re-visiting in the form of a sequel. Although the ending did seem that it could be finite many of the answers I thought we would discover at the end of the story were left to speculation, but this did not ruin my enjoyment of the story. I wouldn't hesitate recommending it to Harry Potter fans that might wish to venture into fantastic realms other than the wizarding one. show less

A different kind of fantasy , instead of the usual wizards, elves and pixies two young people are enticed into the sea by mer people. I highly recommend this story as it creatively explores the issue of pollution and how we care for the environment.

Well, Where do I start. I put four stares, for very good reasons. This is an amazing book that I wish it never ended, with adventure and thrilling chapters. You can never predict whats going to happening, and it's nothing you'll expect.
They are a happy family with great lives, but that all changes once there dad does not come back from sailing out at sea. Everyone believes he is died, but not his daughter Sapphire, who knows he is still alive. Along side her big brother Conor, who also believes he is still alive, and will stop at nothing to find there father. I would recommend this book to those sea lovers out there, and adventures people.

good story. not your average mer folklore. I love that it was a little dark.