Tall Water

by SJ Sindu and Dion MBD

Review posted May 23, 2026.
HarperAlley, 2025. 248 pages.
Review written February 17, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review
2026 Asian/Pacific American Literature Award, Young Adult Honor

Nimmi hasn't seen her mother since she was a baby. Now she's applying to universities to be a journalist, like her father. Her parents met when he was covering the war in Sri Lanka, and when his press pass expired, he took their baby to the United States, but her mother wasn't able to get a visa to come join them.

Now after many years, her father's press pass has been renewed, so he's going to Sri Lanka. He says it's too dangerous for Nimmi to come, but she takes matters into her own hands and joins him, because she wants to meet her mother.

Once there, Nimmi indeed sees some tough things. Her mother's working at a UNICEF orphanage, being a mother to kids who need her.

And then the "Tall Water" of the title hits.

This graphic novel tells a powerful story with moving illustrations, gorgeously drawn. I read it in about a half-hour, and then I had to sit with it for a bit, because it that quickly got into my heart.