Olive's Ocean: Module Fifteen

Henkes, K. (2003). Olive's Ocean. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

Summary:

Olive Barstow was just killed in a tragic car accident, and after Olive's mother delivers a journal entry to Martha Boyle, Martha can't stop thinking about Olive.  In the journal entry Olive wishes to be friends with Martha and touts her as the nicest person in the class.  Martha ponders what she had done to deserve this title as her family travels to visit her grandmother at the cottage by the ocean.  Throughout their visit, Martha thinks of Olive and her desire to visit the ocean.  The book explores a twelve-year-old girl's first taste with her own mortality as well as the usual summer antics of a young girl.

My Evaluation:

Most of this book filled me with sadness.  I would say that I did not enjoy it except that I loved the relationship of Martha and her grandmother.  I could have skipped the rest of the book just to enjoy those sweet and precious moments.  The way they shared one secret thing about each other every day and the obvious love and understanding they felt for one another truly warmed my soul.  It was a lovely description of the type of warmth and help that only grandmothers can provide.  Their story made the book so wonderfully relatable and helped to counteract the very gloomy aspect of the story.  As far as the censorship of the book, I honestly think it is rather ridiculous.  I would not recommend this book for anyone younger than sixth grade, but to ban it altogether would be to deprive children of well-written and poignant literature.

Reviews:

Salvadore, M. B. (2003). Book of the Week: Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA310670.html

Gr 5-8-As Martha and her family prepare for their annual summer visit to New England, the mother of her deceased classmate comes to their door. Olive Barstow was killed by a car a month earlier, and the woman wants to give Martha a page from her daughter's journal. In this single entry, the 12-year-old learns more about her shy classmate than she ever knew: Olive also wanted to be a writer; she wanted to see the ocean, just as Martha soon will; and she hoped to get to know Martha Boyle as "she is the nicest person in my whole entire class." Martha cannot recall anything specific she ever did to make Olive think this, but she's both touched and awed by their commonalities. She also recognizes that if Olive can die, so can she, so can anybody, a realization later intensified when Martha herself nearly drowns. At the Cape, Martha is again reminded that things in her life are changing. She experiences her first kiss, her first betrayal, and the glimmer of a first real boyfriend, and her relationship with Godbee, her elderly grandmother, allows her to examine her intense feelings, aspirations, concerns, and growing awareness of self and others. Rich characterizations move this compelling novel to its satisfying and emotionally authentic conclusion. Language is carefully formed, sometimes staccato, sometimes eloquent, and always evocative to create an almost breathtaking pace. Though Martha remains the focus, others around her become equally realized, including Olive, to whom Martha ultimately brings the ocean.

Children's Review Olive's Ocean. (2003). Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-053543-8

With his usual sensitivity and insight, Henkes (The Birthday Room) explores key issues of adolescence, through the observations of aspiring 12-year-old writer Martha Boyle. In the opening scene on an August morning in Madison, Wis., Martha receives a visitor: the mother of her classmate Olive Barstow, who was hit by a car the month before. The woman hands Martha a journal entry, in which Olive describes her own wish to be a writer—and to "get to know Martha Boyle next year... the nicest person in my whole entire class." Since Olive kept to herself, these revelations forge an unexpected bond between Martha and this classmate she never knew. The other hope Olive confides in the entry is that she could "one day... go to a real ocean such as the Atlantic or Pacific." Martha begins an unwitting pilgrimage of sorts: she strolls with her toddler sister to the corner where Olive died and, when she goes to visit her grandmother, Godbee, on Cape Cod, Martha experiences the ocean for Olive and for herself. In brief chapters, Henkes reveals Martha's discovery of life's fleeting qualities, her deepening bond with Godbee, and her first stirrings of romantic feeling and betrayal. Readers can peer through this brief window into Martha's life and witness a maturation, as she becomes a young woman, appreciates life anew and finds a way to give something back to Olive. Ages 10-up.

My Suggestions for Use in a Library Setting:

I would set aside several of these books to loan to children who have lost a loved one.  I would give one to the school counselor as well so that when the child has finished the book, he/she can discuss it with the counselor as a gateway into talking about their own grief.