Undine gets along well with her unconventional mother, she adores her baby brother, and she has a devoted kindred spirit in her best friend and next-door neighbor, Trout. It's inconvenient that Trout has a sloppy crush on her, but Undine tries to overlook this. Undine is basically satisfied...until strange things begin happening to her.

It starts with an odd feeling, a shadow in the mirror, a whisper only Undine can hear: It's time to come home. And it builds. One hot day, when Undine imagines knitting together a few scattered clouds, she creates a massive thunderstorm.

Who is Undine? Where does her power come from? What is she meant to do? Undine needs answers to these questions, so she sets off in search of a father she'd always believed was dead and a self she's only beginning to discover. But Undine's magic is powerful, wild, and dangerous — and her feelings as she uncovers the truth are even fiercer. Will Undine find herself or lose herself...and everyone she loves?

"Australian author Russon's supernatural thriller succeeds thanks to an engrossing, off-kilter mystery and a cast of adolescent characters rendered through pitch-perfect dialogue. Sixteen-year-old Undine begins to have bad feelings, the kind she hasn't had since her beloved stepfather was killed in an accident almost four years prior. She had premonitions before that tragedy, and now she is feeling uneasy again — and begins hearing a voice telling her, 'It's time to come home.' A stanza from The Tempest, written on a paper bearing her name as its watermark, ends up on her doorstep, and she and her best friend, Trout, become convinced that her father (whom she had been told died before she was born) is alive and reaching out to her. Undine sets off to find him, leading to an intelligent and thoughtful showdown of sorts between the heroine and her parents, both of whom harbor deep secrets. The narrative gets a bit too clever in places (her father, who sent her the Shakespeare verse, is named Prospero Marine) but the atmosphere is involving. Undine and Trout, two-thirds of a romantic triangle, make a compelling and believable pair, grappling with the equally daunting burdens of newfound magical ability and of ordinary high school. Ages 12-up. (Feb.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"The tension between these very real teens and their mythic underpinnings is what makes this title intriguing." Children's Literature

"The story is captivating, and Russon makes good use of suspense as well as of literature and science, to keep her readers interested." VOYA

Penni Russon's first novel, Undine, was named a Notable Book of the Year by the Children's Book Council of Australia. Ms. Russon grew up in a bush suburb of Hobart, where there was snow in winter and bushfires in summer. She now lives in Melbourne with her young family, and every winter she dreams of snow.