Module 10: Olive's Ocean

Book Summary: This is a book about a girl named Martha, who receives a disturbing note from the mother of a girl named Olive.  Olive was hit by a car and died a month before and was not a popular girl.  In fact, she was bullied and teased at school and Martha was the only one who she thought was nice to her.  The note that her mothered delivered was written in Olive's journal and stated that she thought that she was the only one nice to her and she wanted to be her friend.  The note also went on to proclaim the dreams that Olive had which were to go to the Atlantic Ocean and write a book.  Martha was confused by the note and was on her way to visit her grandmother "Godbee" and did not know how to shake off the thought of this mystery note.  While visiting her grandmother she spends as much quality time with her frail grandmother, gets tricked by a mischievous fourteen year old boy, and falls in love again with another boy.  She has her first kiss and her first heartbreak all in the same moment.  She decides to save a jar of water for Olive to give to her mother and it helped to take her mind off the heartbreak.  When she returns home, she searches for Olive's mother, but had no luck.  She ends up realizing that she was just happy to be at home and couldn't wait to go visit her grandmother again and to see her new love interest.

Reference: Henkes, K. (2003). Olive's ocean. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Impression:This was a quick and easy book with a great storyline that kept you turning the pages.  The chapters are short which would be ideal for a younger reader, however, some of the content may not be suitable for them.  I can see on one hand why a parent would challenge this book because of the mentioning of sex and some of the language.  Then again, I feel the message behind this story is powerful and the other things will not matter once you begin reading.  It will be as if you heard you teacher say "damn"in class on accident.  You will be shocked for a minute and then move on.  The journey that Martha goes on to try and basically find her voice and reason for existing is interesting and familiar for children her age.  The back and forth love hate relation between her and her brother and her crush is frequent in the lives of adolescents today.  They will have their heartbroken in one breath and find another in the next.

I would recommend this book to ages 10-14 because of the nature of content but also because these are the ages of the main characters in the story.  They will be able to relate to them and learn a valuable lesson.

Professional Review:
From Booklist
 More than anything Martha wants to be a writer. The problem is that her father does, too. Is there room for two writers in a single family? This is only one of the many questions that beg to be answered during Martha’s twelfth summer. Here are others: Is Godbee, the paternal grandmother whom the family is visiting at Cape Cod, dying? Why is Martha’s father so angry? Could Jimmy, the eldest of the five neighboring Manning brothers, be falling in love with her (and vice-versa)? And what does all this have to do with Olive, Martha’s mysterious classmate, who died after being hit by a car weeks earlier? Olive, who also wanted to be a writer and visit the ocean, and hoped to be Martha’s friend. Like Henkes’ Sun and Spoon (1997), this is another lovely, character-driven novel that explores, with rare subtlety and sensitivity, the changes and perplexities that haunt every child’s growing-up process. He brings to his story the same bedrock understanding of the emotional realities of childhood that he regularly displays in his paradigmatically perfect picture books. Thisisn’t big and splashy, but its quiet art and intelligence will stick with readers, bringing them comfort and reassurance as changes inevitably visit their own growing-up years. — Michael Cart

From Publisher's Weekly
A journal entry of a classmate killed in an accident sends 12-year-old Martha on an unintended pilgrimage. In our Best Books citation, PW wrote, "Readers witness Martha's maturation as she appreciates life anew and finds a way to give something back to Olive." Ages 10-up. (May)

Reference:
Cart, M. (2003). [Review of the book Olive's Ocean, by K. Henkes]. Booklist.com. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/Olive-s-Ocean-Kevin-Henkes/pid=383775

Publisher's Weekly. (n.d.). [Review of the book Olive's Ocean, by K. Henkes]. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-053545-2

Library uses:
This book would be great to read as a read aloud in the middle school grades and then have the students to re-write the ending to what could happen differently.  Students could published their own stories electronically and have their own "journal" just like Martha and Olive in the story.