Module 15: Olive's Ocean

Olive's Ocean

by Kevin Henkes

Citation:

Henkes, Kevin. (2003). Olive's ocean. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Summary

Olive’s Ocean is a story about Martha and Olive. Olive is a girl that was killed in an accident. Olive’s mother gives Martha a page from her journal in which she finds out that they have a lot in common and could have been friends if she had just paid attention to her. Olive had always wanted to see the ocean, so when Martha goes to the beach for the summer she keeps thinking about Olive and their similarities. Both Olive and Martha wanted to be writers. She finally decides to share her dream of being a writer with her family. Olive’s death makes her realize that you shouldn’t take things for granted and live your dreams.

Impressions

This book was really good! It was a short read, but covered so many topics. Teenagers would most likely be able to identify with Martha on at least one of the topics. She struggles with the death of a classmate. Even though she wasn't close to her, she felt like she should have paid more attention to her and realizes that they are very alike. It is sad that it took Olive's death for her to realize this. She also wants to be a writer, but is scared to let her family know. Finding out that Olive wanted to be a writer helped her to go ahead and tell them. She also had to deal with other teenage issues that involve liking boys. It was nice that she had a close relationship with her grandmother and is able to talk with her. She starts to notice that her grandmother is getting older. Olive's death may have made her realize that you should embrace life and live it to the fullest.

This book was on the challenged book list. I am somewhat surprised about this. There was some language and a couple of kissing scenes that didn't go into detail. One of the kissing scenes was between the parents and the older brother described it as MSB (morning sex behavior). The other scene was a peck between Martha and a boy that she thought liked her. I would not see this as a reason to remove it from the shelf. I work in an Elementary library, and it is on our shelves.

Professional Reviews

Gr 5-8-- Olive Barstow was killed in a recent bicycling accident. Although Martha Boyle had never befriended the loner, she is surprised to find out that one of Olive's goals was to make friends with her. Keeping this news to herself, Martha and her family go to spend their usual summer vacation on the ocean at her beloved grandmother's house on Cape Cod. Godbee is a practical, crusty old lady who patiently draws out Martha on her feelings and problems. Martha experiences a crush on a local boy that has a disappointing end, but she realizes there is someone nearby who has always liked her. Themes of death, growing up, family relationships, and the mysteries of life are seamlessly interwoven into this engrossing story by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, 2003). Actress Blair Brown narrates briskly, sounding very much like a New Englander. When necessary, she alters her voice to portray characters or specific emotions. Occasional violin music separates some of the many short chapters. While Brown is perhaps too perfunctory to truly capture the spirit of Martha's introspective summer of self-realization, the story is so involving and the characters are so well developed that this production will likely be popular with middle schoolers.

School Library Journal

Gray, B. A., & Mandell, P. L. (2005). Olive's ocean [Review of Book]. School 
          Library Journal, 51(10), 81.

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Gr. 5-8. More than anything Martha wants to be a writer. The problem is that her father does, too. Is there room for two writers in a single family? This is only one of the many questions that beg to be answered during Martha's twelfth summer. Here are others: Is Godbee, the paternal grandmother whom the family is visiting at Cape Cod, dying? Why is Martha's father so angry? Could Jimmy, the eldest of the five neighboring Manning brothers, be falling in love with her (and vice-versa)? And what does all this have to do with Olive, Martha's mysterious classmate, who died after being hit by a car weeks earlier? Olive, who also wanted to be a writer and visit the ocean, and hoped to be Martha's friend. Like Henkes' Sun ana Spoon (1997), this is another lovely, character-driven novel that explores, with rare subtlety and sensitivity, the changes and perplexities that haunt every child's growing-up process. He brings to his story the same bedrock understanding of the emotional realities of childhood that he regularly displays in his paradigmatically perfect picture books. This isn't big and splashy, but its quiet art and intelligence will stick with readers, bringing them comfort and reassurance as changes inevitably visit their own growing-up years. -Michael Cart

The Booklist

Cart, M. (2003). Olive's ocean [Review of Book]. The Booklist, 100(1), 122.

Library Lessons

Middle and High School

This book could be used to discuss imagery. One of the images written in the book is “The sand dunes in Jimmy's film are lined up like buns in a bakery.” Students could find some other images that they like in the story and share them. Another option is that they could draw a picture of the image description.

It could also be a good book talk. One of the topics covered are loss and understanding how fragile life is.

This book could also be used to discuss how characters change throughout stories.

References

Amazon. (2016). [Image of Cover]. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/
            Olives-Ocean-Kevin-Henkes/dp/0060535458/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=
            1462146480&sr=8-1&keywords=olive%27s+ocean

Cart, M. (2003). Olive's ocean [Review of Book]. The Booklist, 100(1), 122.

Gray, B. A., & Mandell, P. L. (2005). Olive's ocean [Review of Book]. School 
          Library Journal, 51(10), 81.

Henkes, Kevin. (2003). Olive's ocean. New York: Greenwillow Books.