From Goodreads,"From the author of the critically acclaimed Wolf Hollow comes a moving story of identity and belonging.
Twelve-year-old Crow has lived her entire life on a tiny, isolated piece of the starkly beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. Abandoned and set adrift on a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow's only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar.
Crow has always been curious about the world around her, but it isn't until the night a mysterious fire appears across the water that the unspoken question of her own history forms in her heart. Soon, an unstoppable chain of events is triggered, leading Crow down a path of discovery and danger.
Vivid and heart wrenching, Lauren Wolk's Beyond the Bright Seais a gorgeously crafted and tensely paced tale that explores questions of identity, belonging, and the true meaning of family."
Goodreads - Beyond the Bright Sea
Awards and Nominations:
- Goodreads Choice Nominee for Middle Grades & Children's (2017)
- Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction (2018)
- Carnegie Medal Nominee (2018)
The past couple of reviews I have been extremely obsessed with the covers of books. I've said before that the cover has to sell the book before the reader ever picks it up. I like covers that are colorful and catch my attention. While scrolling through Scholastic I stopped at this stunning book and immediately added it to my cart without reading the summary. I felt that the cover told enough about the story. I believed that it would be about someone going on a journey, where a feather played some important role since there was a feather hidden in the water and the sun. I was so excited to finally dive into this book and go on the journey with the main characters.
This book is told by a girl named Crow who is wondering who she is and where she comes from. She does know that she was placed in a skiff as a new baby and sent to sea, only to wash up on the shore of a small island inhabited by a man named Osh. Crow grew up happy and knowing nothing different, but she began to wonder where she came from. Osh told her what little he knew and shared a pieced together half missing letter with her and a gold ring. Crow was immediately set on finding out where she came from and along the way finding out who she was.
I love books where people make a journey of some sort. I really expected Crow to make a long distance solo journey to find herself, but she only traveled to nearby islands with someone usually with her. This was a very subtle and slow journey, not a grueling one that is often seen in young adult books. I love that Crow's journey was slow and that Osh made her think about her decisions before she acted upon them. Osh gave her plenty of room to make her own decisions and to learn and fail. I see so many people making decisions for their kids when they are perfectly able to make the decision themselves. Kids need to learn to consider the options, pick one, and handle the consequences. They need to learn how to fail. As adults we make decisions for kids because it is so much easier to make a decision for them than to let them think, decide, and possibly fail. We are all on a journey and we must all learn to make our own decisions. I love that Wolk wrote Crow in this manner because she is a perfect model of how we should be living. We need to take our time, think things through, be true to ourselves, and make our decisions. Life is a journey and it is our journey to make.
This book was wonderful and I am so glad that I read it. I absolutely plan to use this in my classroom or to have it in my classroom library. I love the historical aspect of this book and think that some kids would really invest in the history side of it. I also love that there is a journey happening and it shows that it is okay to make a decision and it be the wrong one. Mistakes happen, but we must learn to deal with it and move on. I give this 5 stars and recommend this to anyone and everyone.
This book is told by a girl named Crow who is wondering who she is and where she comes from. She does know that she was placed in a skiff as a new baby and sent to sea, only to wash up on the shore of a small island inhabited by a man named Osh. Crow grew up happy and knowing nothing different, but she began to wonder where she came from. Osh told her what little he knew and shared a pieced together half missing letter with her and a gold ring. Crow was immediately set on finding out where she came from and along the way finding out who she was.
I love books where people make a journey of some sort. I really expected Crow to make a long distance solo journey to find herself, but she only traveled to nearby islands with someone usually with her. This was a very subtle and slow journey, not a grueling one that is often seen in young adult books. I love that Crow's journey was slow and that Osh made her think about her decisions before she acted upon them. Osh gave her plenty of room to make her own decisions and to learn and fail. I see so many people making decisions for their kids when they are perfectly able to make the decision themselves. Kids need to learn to consider the options, pick one, and handle the consequences. They need to learn how to fail. As adults we make decisions for kids because it is so much easier to make a decision for them than to let them think, decide, and possibly fail. We are all on a journey and we must all learn to make our own decisions. I love that Wolk wrote Crow in this manner because she is a perfect model of how we should be living. We need to take our time, think things through, be true to ourselves, and make our decisions. Life is a journey and it is our journey to make.
This book was wonderful and I am so glad that I read it. I absolutely plan to use this in my classroom or to have it in my classroom library. I love the historical aspect of this book and think that some kids would really invest in the history side of it. I also love that there is a journey happening and it shows that it is okay to make a decision and it be the wrong one. Mistakes happen, but we must learn to deal with it and move on. I give this 5 stars and recommend this to anyone and everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment