Let's Talk is a new weekly feature here at i swim for oceans. I think it's important that we all have our say, and there's something to be said for raising our voices. Simply put, here on the little old blog, I like to host some of my very own discussion posts because, well, I like to converse with you all.

And so, Let's Talk will feature questions or prompts, which I will answer, too. Love it or hate it, weigh in or don't, it's my hope that Let's Talk will at least get you thinking...and maybe even get you discussing with the rest of us!

Question: What ONE underrated book book do you want to share with the blogosphere - new or old?

Sometimes I stump myself with my own questions, guys. Seriously. I'm cruel even to myself! There are so many underrated books that I've read since starting blogging that I'm still blown away by and wish more people had read. That said, there are a ton of books I read even before I started blogging that I wish the blogging community knew, too. Some of those books remain my favourites today, and you probably hear me touting them all the time.  One such book is Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle. I wish I could say it had the world's prettiest cover, but it doesn't. It's what you'll find in the pages though, that really counts.

Sandy and Dennys have always been the normal, run-of-the-mill ones in the extraodinary Murry family. They garden, make an occasional A in school, and play baseball. Nothing especially interesting has happened to the twins until they accidentally interrupt their father's experiment.

Then the two boys are thrown across time and space. They find themselves alone in the desert, where, if they believe in unicorns, they can find unicorns, and whether they believe or not, mammoths and manticores will find them. The boys find they have more to do in the oasis than simply getting themselves home--they have to reunite an estranged father and son, but it won't be easy, especially when the son is named Noah and he's about to start building a boat in the desert.

Regardless of whether you're religious or not, this take on Noah's Ark is one you've never heard. It's fantasy, it's paranormal and it's utterly beautiful. You're enmeshed in a battle of light and dark angels, humans and an unknown god named El. There are touches of romance, and it's a sweet, soaring story line that is, at times, heartbreaking and, at other times, intense a riveting. The end is beautiful and triumphant, packaging this fourth installment of the Time series in a neat bow.

And yet, for some reason, this book remains probably the least known of the series. I don't know if it's the face that it revolves around the twins or the Biblical context, but it seems rarely read by bloggers that I've met. Honestly, the Biblical details are there, but it's not a religious book. It is, however, immensely powerful, and I've read my copy so many times that the cover fell off...so I bought a few more. If I could just offer bloggers one piece of advice...try Many Waters! You might very well LOVE it!

Title: Many Waters
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Published: September 1, 1986 (1st Ed.)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Pages: 336
Source: Personal Copy

A touch of computer keys, a blast of heat, and suddenly the Murry twins, Sandy and Dennys, are gasping in a shimmering desert land. 

If only the brothers had normal parents, not a scientist mother and a father who experiments with space and time travel. If only the Murry twins had noticed the note on the door of their mother's lab: 'EXPERIMENT IN PROGRESS. PLEASE KEEP OUT...

Many Waters is, in many ways, a retelling of the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark, with a science fiction twist. Following twins Sandy and Dennis in the aftermath of a mishap in their mother’s lab, the twins are sent back in time to world thousands of years before life as they know it. In a world divided between humans, Nephilim and Seraphim, Sandy and Dennis stick out like a sore thumb, and there’s a strong undercurrent of hate towards the twins, both seen as a threat and a useful ally, as they’re much taller than the people of the land they’ve found themselves in. To make matters worse, Noah is building an ark, and they know this story. Can they find their way home in time, and what happens to those left behind?

I have to admit – I really wasn’t a fan of the first few books in the Time series by Madeleine L’Engle. I just couldn’t get into the characters’ heads, and frankly, they bored me a good bit. Then, I found this book, the fourth in the series that isn’t completely chronological because the books stand alone. The premise fascinated me, as I’m very familiar with my Biblical tales (Catholic, party of one.) The prose is simple but sweet, with two twin boys as the MCs. It’s rich with history, embellished with touches of the supernatural and speeds steadily to an outcome I’m sure we all know all too well.

Sandy and Dennis were refreshing main characters. They kept true to a very boy-esque voice, which I find is missing in a lot of male MC books these days. The secondary characters like Adnarel, Yalith and Grandfather Lamech (and all the cute lil mammoths!) were fabulous, too, and I loved the cast of Nephilim and Seraphim, as well. I enjoyed that they shifted shapes into animals/beasts/insects very much like their own personalities. It was definitely the intricacies within Many Waters that drove it towards the climax, and the sweet touch of love that led to a sad, but beautiful climax was well-written and not overdone unlike a lot of YA romance these days. The themes of destiny, belief in things unseen and fate definitely weighed heavily, as well, making Many Waters even stronger.

I read Many Waters a long time ago, but I’ve kept it on my shelf and bough multiple copies as I wear it out through re-reading. I loved it back then, and I still do. I give it a firm 4.5 out of 5, and I’d recommend it to all YA fans, especially those who enjoy a touch of sci-fi and fantasy with religious undertones.