A Swirl of Ocean
by Melissa Sarno (Author)
A touching, timeless novel--perfect for fans of Lisa Graff and Lauren Wolk--about a girl who discovers that the ocean is holding secrets she never could have imagined.
Twelve-year-old Summer loves the ocean. The smell, the immensity, the feeling she gets when she dives beneath the surface. She has lived in Barnes Bluff Bay since she was two years old, when Lindy found her on the beach. It's been the two of them ever since. But now, ten years later, Summer feels uncertainty about her place with Lindy and starts to wonder about where she came from. One night, Summer goes for a swim and gets caught in a riptide, swallowing mouthfuls of seawater. And that night, she dreams of a girl. A girl her age living in the same town, but not in the same time. Summer's not persuaded that this girl is real, but something about her feels familiar.
Summer dreams again and again about this girl, Tink, and becomes convinced that she is connected to her past. As she sees Tink struggle with her sister growing away from her and her friends starting to pair off, Summer must come to terms with her own evolving home life and discover how the bonds that make us family can help heal the wounds of the past.
From Melissa Sarno, the author of Just Under the Clouds, comes a new story of discovery, family, and finding where you belong.
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Publishers Weekly
Sarno (Just Under the Clouds) packs this deeply affecting novel with honest emotion. Propelled by authentic characters, the adroitly woven plot meshes past and present, dreams and reality, and love and friendship. Set in a seaside resort town where only the year-rounders remain as fall approaches, the story is narrated by 12-year-old Summer, whose adoptive mother, Lindy, found her alone at water's edge a decade earlier, wearing a shell necklace. The ocean itself becomes a compelling character, at once calming and menacing, leaving shells on the beach that Summer vigilantly collects, yet abruptly catching her in a riptide. A keeper of long-held secrets, the sea also inspires Summer's unsettlingly realistic dreams, told in installments and starring a girl called Tink (and always ending "with me inside the ocean. With the ocean inside me"), which she hopes hold a clue to her identity. Like the adolescents in her dreams, Summer grapples with disconcerting changes, including Lindy's new live-in beau, who upsets the familial status quo. Though the exploration of Lindy's provenance through dreams sometimes fails to land, the volume remains an involving, bracing summer tale for all seasons. Ages 8-12. Agent: Rebecca Stead, the Book Group. (Aug.)
Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
"[R]ich with imagery and thoughtful contemplations...the way in which Summer ends up being connected to Tink highlight[s] the dreamy tranquility of the girls' seaside town."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV024000 - Juvenile Fiction | Lifestyles | Country Life
JUV013010 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Adoption
