Review by Ian Keogh

Kim Dwinell creates the Surfside Girls series, but separated the preparation of the second and third graphic novels with The Science of Surfing. It’s still aimed at a young adult audience and still stars Jade and Sam, but their role here isn’t to get to the bottom of a mystery, it’s to educate their readers. Warnings about what humans are doing to the ocean feature, but among a host of other topics including science and how to surf.

After a cheery introduction, Dwinell moves into the science, which is explained clearly and concisely via Jade and Sam, so clearly and concisely in fact that adults might wonder how it is their science teachers failed to drum in the workings of tides and waves. Before instructions on how to use those tides and waves for surfing there’s a chapter on wildlife living in or around the sea, which seems more random, suggesting perhaps Dwinell couldn’t otherwise fill the pages. Still, it’s packed with factoids, not just explaining the habits of the animals, but also why they’re important in the bigger ecological scheme. If otters didn’t eat sea urchins, for instance, the urchins would consume kelp at an incredible rate with disastrous consequences for humanity.

Having learned that, we reach the explanations of surfing. These begin with a discussion of appropriate clothing, moves to the pros and cons of longboards and shortboards, and then actual technique. It’ll be obvious to the initiated, but surprising to the novice, and that’s the point. The one aspect that looks extremely complicated is the safety code method of assessing who has right of way in more crowded surf. Apparently experience is a great teacher.

Absolute clarity is the priority, and there are so many lightbulb moments you’ll be sitting in your armchair confident that you too can surf. That, of course, is the intention.