First of all, this story is based on true events from one of my summers at sailing camp, which was probably one of the best summers of my life.

13 year old Mattie is a fictional character based off of myself, telling the story to you all. Bradly is based off of one of my actual friends from camp that summer, as were Margaret, Russel, Lena, Ally, Emma, and Alex, Jackson, and Mattie's sister Lila. The place the characters sail out of from each day is also based off of the actual place I sail from each summer in real life.

The events in the story are true as well, and I try to retell as many of the facts as I can from that summer.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading Turning Tides, and I hope you have a fun time visualizing and imagining the events that happened during the best summer of my life.