Importance of water

Bodies of water feature prominently in this story. Jane rescues her beloved younger brother from ten-foot waves when Jane is 11 and Joley is 7. From this moment on she refuses to swim. Jane meets Oliver when he is working in a tide pool. He later grows into a world-renowned scientist who travels the oceans to study whales. His attempt to bring his wife and child along is unsuccessful. They prefer life on land. When Jane runs away from home with Rebecca, they pause for soul-searching at La Jolla beach but neither of them enter the water. When Jane meets Sam, he invites her to go fishing on Boon Lake. It is a trust-building moment for Jane to get into the rowboat. Jane later shares an intimate moment of life-changing trust when Sam pulls her into Pickerel Pond to re-introduce her to swimming. She revels in it after that. At the end of the story, she returns with her family to San Diego.