Tall Water by SJ Sindu

Tall Water

A Graphic Novel

SJ Sindu, Dion MBD

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · August 12, 2025

From Stonewall Honor–winning writer SJ Sindu, author of Shakti, and celebrated illustrator Dion MBD comes a powerful coming-of-age teen graphic novel that follows one girl’s journey to Sri Lanka to reconnect with her long-lost mother during the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.

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Who it’s for
A compact, page-forward read for when you want history, movement, and a little extra charge.
Genres
YA Coming-of-Age Comics, YA Historical Comics, Historical YA - Asia
Published
HarperCollins, August 12, 2025

About this book

From Stonewall Honor–winning writer SJ Sindu, author of Shakti, and celebrated illustrator Dion MBD comes a powerful coming-of-age teen graphic novel that follows one girl’s journey to Sri Lanka to reconnect with her long-lost mother during the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. Perfect for fans of Persepolis and Almost American Girl. Ever since she turned sixteen, Nimmi has wanted to see her mother.

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Though she has a loving but overprotective father and a budding relationship, she yearns to travel to Sri Lanka to confront the mother who refused to leave the island during a war, not even for Nimmi’s sake. Her father is going back for the first time as a reporter on assignment, but he refuses to take her, deeming Sri Lanka too dangerous. But then Nimmi's mother appears to her in a dream, asking her to come find her, and Nimmi knows she must go. Her father is livid when he sees her at baggage claim, but by then it’s too late, and he reluctantly agrees to help Nimmi make contact with her mother. In Sri Lanka, Nimmi tags along with her father and his guide, past checkpoints and armed soldiers and increasing hints of the war that rages there. However, the day after Christmas, disaster strikes and a tsunami ravages the island. Stranded amid the devastation and destruction, can Nimmi reunite with her mother? Through her journey, Nimmi might just learn that the person she most needed to find was herself.

Why It Works

A compact, page-forward read for when you want history, movement, and a little extra charge.

Come here for

  • graphic-novel momentum
  • historical YA with fantasy notes

Expect

  • visual storytelling
  • easy entry for category browsing

Where it sits

YA Coming-of-Age Comics60%
YA Historical Comics39%
Historical YA - Asia35%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • YA Survival Stories
  • YA Coming-of-Age Comics
  • YA Historical Comics
  • Diverse YA Graphic Novels
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Coming of Age
  • YA Stories About Parents
  • Historical YA - Asia
  • Asia for Teens
Authors
SJ Sindu, Dion MBD
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
August 12, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
YA Survival Stories