Olive's Ocean

by Kevin Henkes (Author)

Olive's Ocean
Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
This exquisite coming-of-age story from a bestselling author is about a girl who is haunted by her deceased friend Olive and has just a hint of young romance.
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School Library Journal

Starred Review
Gr 5-8-As Martha and her family prepare for their annual summer visit to New England, the mother of her deceased classmate comes to their door. Olive Barstow was killed by a car a month earlier, and the woman wants to give Martha a page from her daughter's journal. In this single entry, the 12-year-old learns more about her shy classmate than she ever knew: Olive also wanted to be a writer; she wanted to see the ocean, just as Martha soon will; and she hoped to get to know Martha Boyle as "she is the nicest person in my whole entire class." Martha cannot recall anything specific she ever did to make Olive think this, but she's both touched and awed by their commonalities. She also recognizes that if Olive can die, so can she, so can anybody, a realization later intensified when Martha herself nearly drowns. At the Cape, Martha is again reminded that things in her life are changing. She experiences her first kiss, her first betrayal, and the glimmer of a first real boyfriend, and her relationship with Godbee, her elderly grandmother, allows her to examine her intense feelings, aspirations, concerns, and growing awareness of self and others. Rich characterizations move this compelling novel to its satisfying and emotionally authentic conclusion. Language is carefully formed, sometimes staccato, sometimes eloquent, and always evocative to create an almost breathtaking pace. Though Martha remains the focus, others around her become equally realized, including Olive, to whom Martha ultimately brings the ocean.-Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review
With his usual sensitivity and insight, Henkes (The Birthday Room) explores key issues of adolescence, through the observations of aspiring 12-year-old writer Martha Boyle. In the opening scene on an August morning in Madison, Wis., Martha receives a visitor: the mother of her classmate Olive Barstow, who was hit by a car the month before. The woman hands Martha a journal entry, in which Olive describes her own wish to be a writer-and to "get to know Martha Boyle next year... the nicest person in my whole entire class." Since Olive kept to herself, these revelations forge an unexpected bond between Martha and this classmate she never knew. The other hope Olive confides in the entry is that she could "one day... go to a real ocean such as the Atlantic or Pacific." Martha begins an unwitting pilgrimage of sorts: she strolls with her toddler sister to the corner where Olive died and, when she goes to visit her grandmother, Godbee, on Cape Cod, Martha experiences the ocean for Olive and for herself. In brief chapters, Henkes reveals Martha's discovery of life's fleeting qualities, her deepening bond with Godbee, and her first stirrings of romantic feeling and betrayal. Readers can peer through this brief window into Martha's life and witness a maturation, as she becomes a young woman, appreciates life anew and finds a way to give something back to Olive. Ages 10-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2003 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Lyrically written."—Seattle Times
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780060535452
Lexile Measure
680
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Greenwillow Books
Publication date
April 26, 2005
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
Library of Congress categories
Grandmothers
Family life
Self-perception
Newbery Medal
Honor Book 2004 - 2004
L.A. Times Book Prize
Finalist 2003 - 2003
Bluebonnet Awards
Nominee 2006 - 2006
North Carolina Children's Book Award
Nominee 2005 - 2005
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award
Nominee 2005 - 2005
Young Reader's Choice Award
Nominee 2006 - 2006
Virginia Readers Choice Award
Nominee 2006 - 2006
Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award
Nominee 2005 - 2006

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