Module 15 - Olive's Ocean

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes

Summary - One moment Marth Boyle is just an average girl with her own thoughts, troubles, and dreams, and the next she is so much more. When Olive Barstow's mother shows up and gives Martha a journal entry of her deceased daughters, in which she wished desperately to become friends with Martha, she changes the trajectory of Martha's summer, and maybe even her life. In this haunting, yet uplifting 'summer tale' Martha explores the meaning of life, friendship, and dreams by living for both herself and Olive.

Impressions - This is a very powerful book that can force readers to think outside of themselves, while remaining tied to feelings and experiences they are going through so that they can identify with the text. The search for self grounds Martha, as does the eventual return to the heart - home - and by experiencing a summer for Olive, or at least with the memory of Olive and her thoughts and dreams attached, Martha experiences life both internally and externally, and brings the reader along with her. More importantly, it is the relationships that grow, change, and end throughout Marth's trip to her Grandmother(Godbee)'s house near the ocean help to move the text from an examination of death to an experience of life. The quiet nature of the text and the action in the book may alienate some readers, as may the female protagonist(s), but the message within is powerful enough to speak on a number of levels to a number of potential readers.

Reviews - School Library Journal's review of Olive's Ocean references the "themes of death, growing up, family relationships, and the mysteries of life" that are "seamlessly interwoven into this engrossing story" helps a reader to identify what the book is about and why it is something they should strive to read (and/or have their children read). T author, B. Allison Gray, gives enough detail on the story without ruining the major plot/theme points, and offers an insightful look at this powerful story, although the age range she offers with it (grades 5-8) could be adjusted to late middle school to middle high school, not due to text complexity, but more in regards to an individual child's reaction to, and ability to deal with, the idea of childhood death.

Use - Olive's Ocean is a lovely homage to childhood which is saved from morbidity by the warmth and innocence of its main character, Martha, and the power of her personality and dreams. Especially useful for child readers who have, or may soon, experienced loss, parents and teachers should not be scared by the element of death in the text, but use it as a starting off point for discussion on what it means to live an authentic life and how death can help us learn who we want to be. The age range of late elementary for more sophisticated readers, to high school for others can be adjusted on a case by case basis, but teachers for students younger than middle school should hesitate to make it required reading as some readers may not be able to handle the depth of the text.

(1) Gray, B. A. (2005) Olve's ocean. School Library Journal, 51(10), 81.