Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes is the dramatic story of Martha, a 12-year-old girl who goes along with her family to visit her aged grandmother, Godbee, who lives near the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. While there, she and her brother, Vince, reconnect with some friends, Jimmy and Tate Manning. She is originally interested in seeing Tate again because he is her same age, but she develops a crush on Jimmy instead. She believes Jimmy returns her crush and starts spending time with him. He is deceptive, however, leading her to a place where he gives her her first kiss, but instead of being sincere, very inappropriately captures the kiss on camera as a way of winning a bet. Martha is crushed and embarrassed, blaming her brother for his part in the bet and refusing to have anything to do with Jimmy or Tate. In the background, we get two more stories, the first of which deals with Godbee's desire to know more about her near-teen granddaughter. The second, and the one from which the story gets its title, deals with a classmate, Olive, who was tragically killed when a car hit her while she was riding her bike home. Olive's mother pays a brief visit to Martha just before her family leaves for their vacation to deliver a journal entry Olive had written stating that she really hopes she can become friends with Martha because she thinks she may be the nicest person in her class. This entry and tragedy will ultimately lead Martha on a mission to bring some ocean home to Olive's mother as an act of kindness and representation of the fact that Olive had never and will never see the ocean firsthand.
Personal Impressions
I chose to read Olive's Ocean due to the recommendation of a friend who took this class a semester prior. From the moment I first opened it to the moment I finished it, I didn't want to put it down. It is this beautifully inspiring story about a girl who comes to the realization of life's imperfections. In a ideal world, a 12-year-old girl wouldn't have to die, a brother wouldn't betray his sister by taking part in a hurtful bet, and a boy wouldn't fake a crush just to win a bet. The reality is that we do not live in an ideal world. I think Henkes was trying to relay the message that life is not always enjoyable because of the harsh reality that sometimes bad things just happen even if they are not deserved. It's a beautiful yet painfully true message. I believe it is a challenged book in elementary schools due to this advanced theme. I know there is one part that mentions something about sex, but it is extremely minor and doesn't say much. For an elementary aged student, maybe the concepts of death, redemption, and deep relationships are a little advanced. I was told that Henkes is typically an elementary author, which could have something to do with the challenge as well. After reading the book, I told my students I think it is the perfect novel for them to read because it depicts the emotions they go through at this age. Henkes did a fabulous job relaying a deeper theme through the characters in this novel. It's a beautiful book, and I would definitely recommend it to my students.
Professional Reviews
from Horn Book magazine, 2003
Kevin Henkes, Olive's Ocean
217 pp. Greenwillow 8/03 ISBN 0-06-053543-1 15.99
Library edition ISBN 0-06-053544X 16.89
(Intermediate, middle school)
Martha opens the door. A strange woman holding an envelope announces: "Olive Barstow was my daughter." Olive, a schoolmate that Martha had barely noticed, has recently been killed in a car accident; the envelope contains an extract from Olive's diary in which she shares her dreams, including the hope that Martha, "the nicest girl in my whole entire class," would become her friend. With this original and compelling opening scene Henkes draws into one summer in the life of a familiar, convincing, fully realized twelve-year-old girl. Olive's Ocean has all the elements of a traditional summer novel: a grandmother with a house by the sea, sandcastles, Parcheesi, a summer crush, and the idea of summer as the time between, the hinge time of growth and change. The book is a web of relationships with Martha at the center. A beloved older brother begins to pull away. Martha sees her grandmother with new eyes. Martha and her mother can't seem to stop irritating each other. The crush-object turns out to have feet of clay. In other hands, this might be too much material, but Henkes has a jeweler's touch, strong and delicate. All of Henkes's strengths as a fiction writer--economy, grace, humor, respect for his characters, a dramatist's eye for gesture, and an underlying good-naturedness--are given wonderful play here. In her diary Olive reveals that she dreamed of writing a book. "Not a mystery or adventure one, but an emotional one. Maybe I can make kids change their opinions on emotion books like some authors did to me." Who were those authors, we wonder. Very likely somebody just like Kevin Henkes. SARAH ELLIS
From School Library Journal:
Olive's Ocean(unabr.). 2 cassettes or 3 CDs. 2:30 hrs.Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. byListening Library/Books on Tape.2005. cassette, ISBN 0-307-20727-7: $23;CD, ISBN 0-307-20728-5: $30.
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.
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By B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor, NY
Editor Phyllis Levy Mandell
Library Uses
In an effort to showcase more middle school literature in our middle schools, I think librarians should display books with characters and themes that appeal to this particular age group. The showcase could occur in a blog format, where the librarian blogs about the books. It could also appear as a display table, and the librarian could conduct a 2-3 minute book talk over one of the books each time a class comes in. It would also be a good book to teach tone and mood; however, most classroom teachers have a set amount of time that they and their classes spend in the library. Asking the librarian to read the book would not be a feasible request. If paired with the English teacher, the librarian could facilitate a mini-lesson on tone and mood using the book, assuming it is being read in the ELAR classes. Again making the same assumption, the librarian could have students get on Google Earth, find the setting of the story, and go on a sort of virtual fieldtrip of the area. This activity could also be conducted with one computer and a projector, where the entire class goes on a virtual fieldtrip together.
References
Ellis, S. (2003). Olive's Ocean. Horn Book Magazine, 79(6). Retrieved 03 December 2012 from www.hbook.com.
Gray, A. (2004). Olive's Ocean. School Library Journal, 51(10). Retrieved 03 December 2012 from www.schoollibraryjournal.com.
Henkes, K. (2003). Olive's Ocean. New York, New York: Greenwillow Books.
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