Grade 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.
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