A second underwater adventure from the author of Branford Boase longlisted The Girl with Gills. Join Scamp Saltbrace on a high-stakes fantasy adventure, with vicious mermaids, evil smugglers and a tidal clock that controls the oceans.

Scamp Saltbrace feels like a misfit. In a family full of sailors, she's scared of the sea. But when an ancient truce between mermaids and sailors is broken, it's up to Scamp to fix it. Braving raging oceans full of unknown dangers, guided by a strange tidal clock given to her by her beloved granny, Scamp must find the mermaid queen.

Scamp's loyal little sister, True, and companions Quinlan and Tails, join her as they discover the sea queen's daughter is missing, taken by the wicked smuggler, Victor Marrow. Worse, the tidal clock's powers, if misused, could threaten the entire world. To save everyone and everything she cares about, Scamp must do what she has avoided all her life, and answer the call of the sea.