Through the Looking Glass Book Reviews: Olive's Ocean

Welcome!

Dear Book Lovers, Welcome! I am delighted that you have found The Through the Looking Glass blog. For over twenty years I reviewed children's literature titles for my online journal, which came out six times a year. Every book review written for that publication can be found on the Through the Looking Glass website (the link is below). I am now moving in a different direction, though the columns that I write are still book-centric. Instead of writing reviews, I'm offering you columns on topics that have been inspired by wonderful books that I have read. I tell you about the books in question, and describe how they have have impacted me. This may sound peculiar to some of you, but the books that I tend to choose are ones that resonate with me on some level. Therefore, when I read the last page and close the covers, I am not quite the same person that I was when first I started reading the book. The shift in my perspective might be miniscule, but it is still there. The books I am looking are both about adult and children's titles. Some of the children's titles will appeal to adults, while others will not. Some of the adult titles will appeal to younger readers, particularly those who are eager to expand their horizons.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Banned Books Week - A review of Olive's Ocean, a challenged book

For my last post for Banned Books Week I have a review to share with you. I read Olive's Ocean a few years ago and yet I still remember it very clearly. Growing up is often a confusing time for young people, and in this book Kevin Henkes tells a story that addresses some of issues that teens deal with.

Olive’s Ocean

Kevin Henkes
Fiction
For ages 9 to 12
HarperCollins, 2003, 978-0060535438
Martha never really knew Olive Barstow and she is shocked when Olive’s mother arrives at the house to give Martha a journal entry that Olive wrote before she was killed by a car. In it Olive mentions that she hopes to make friends with Martha and she thinks Martha is the “nicest person” in their class. Martha can’t help feeling sad that she never the chance or took the time to get to know shy Olive.

Even after she and her family go to her grandmother’s house at the beach Martha cannot rid herself of Olive’s memory. Nor can she really share how she feels with anyone in her family. Though she does share other confidences with her grandmother, Godbee, whom Martha loves and admires a great deal. She tells Godbee for example that she rather likes Jimmy Manning, a boy whom until then was more of an annoyance than anything else. Now Jimmy seems to be interested her and she is sure that she has fallen in love with him.

She also tells Godbee that she wants to become a writer. Godbee is very supportive of the idea and tells Martha about a short story she wrote when she was young. The story gives Martha an idea – it gives her way to give poor Olive’s mother a gift.

In then end Martha discovers that Jimmy is not whom she thought he was, and the gift for Olive’s mother is never really delivered, but Martha comes through a difficult time and she makes peace with both Olive and with herself.

In this beautifully paced novel, Kevin Henkes explores several months in a girl’s life as she struggles with the process of growing up, and as she tries to comes to terms with the death of a schoolmate. Growing up is a rarely an easy process and this 2004 Newbery Honor title perfectly captures the confusion that many young people feel at this moment in their lives.