Olive’s Ocean

Book Log by Kellie Doty

Book CardTitle: Olive’s Ocean

Author: Kevin Henkes

Genre: Fiction – coming of age

Awards: Newberry Honor Book

Publisher: Greenwillow Books 2003

ISBN: 0-06-053543-1

Review Link:

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA310670.html

Related Sites:

http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/olivesocean.html

Summary• Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes is a wonderful book of self-discovery spurred by a classmate’s

death. The story opens when Martha answers the door and is surprised to find her dead Olive Barstow’s mother standing there. She presents Martha with a page from her deceased daughter’s journal which leads Martha to begin reflecting on her own life. The unknown similarities between the two girls, such as wanting to write and loving the ocean, make Martha consider whether having future goals and dreams is enough – perhaps she needs to live more for today, before her opportunities are gone.

• The story then leaps into the family’s summer vacation at the Cape. Here, Martha visits her elderly grandmother, taking time to get to know her better as she realizes that Godbee could also leave this earth at any time. Over the course of the summer she has many other relationship experiences such as her first kiss, she shares her decision to be a writer, and she almost drowns. Olive learns to live for the moment as well as to plan ahead, and she learns to enjoy every precious moment with loved ones while you can so that you don’t have regrets in the future.

• Note: This story has 68 chapters in its 217 pages, making it an excellent story to teach reading strategies with. Because each chapter is so short, they are excellent to analyze for comprehension, do think alouds with, think-pair-share, buddy readings, etc. It also builds confidence in slow readers as they easily finish a chapter.

Book Review • Book Review by Maria B. Salvadore on the School Library Journal:• 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.

Creative Reader Response

My Scrapbook By Martha Boyle

June 7: My Hopes I hope that I can write a book someday. not like the kind we did in writing lab. A real one, like in a library or bookstore. And 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. Most kids at school Call the kind of book I want to do a chapter book, but I call them novels. Maybe I could be the youngest person ever to write a novel. Maybe I can develop a unique style of writing that no other authors have. I already know the first sentence of my novel: “The orphan’s Secret wish was that her bones were hollow like A bird’s and that she could just take off and fly away.” I also hope that one day I can go to a real ocean such as the Atlantic or Pacific. I like Madison with all the lakes (especially Lake Wingra), but I think it is not the same. When I’m eighteen I want to live in a cottage on a cliff that looks over the sea. What else do I hope? I hope that I get to know Martha Boyle next year (or thissummer). I hope that we can be friends. That is my biggest hope. She is the nicest person in my whole entire class.

Olive Barstow’s Journal

(Brought to me by her mother.)

“CROTCH”Live on Wisconsin Public Radio

Embarrassing

Moment

Where O

live D

ied

Over the river and through the woods (NOT)…

…To Godbee’s house we go!

The view from our Adriondack chairs looking out at Buzzard’s Bay

Tonight I hated my family. Grandma her hands.

“They’re like crabs – ugly, pink, crippled crabs.”

D

E

C

I

S

I

O

N

No Novel!

Her name was Olive. She arrivedat her grandmother’s house in tears. She was an orphan. She held her grandmother’s old wrinklyhands and wept. Then she heard the ocean. She looked up as a giant wave crashed on a giant rock, and for a moment she forgothow sad she was.

My

Novel

Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy JimmyJimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jim Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jim Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy

http://www.oceanvodka.com/

12 is too young to die

Spark - lers

Jimmy took my hand!

This is the best day of my life!

JIMMY

My First Kiss

I was used to win a bet. Jimmy is a microbe. Microbes cause disease.

2

WOODS HOLE RESTAURANT

Godbee’s ART

Life-c hanging Thoughts

The ocean like a big blue overcoat zippered

me up The ocean is full of tears, you know

Under the sea I livedI was a sea creature for one momentIf I had died beneath the waves

My grandmother dreamed of the oceanCan you put the sea in a bottle, keep it?

Can you watch a hand grow old? Why did one girl die and not the other?

Save me, oh save me, so I do not drownA girl with one kiss equals an ocean of tears

I kissed a stone and thought to drownWho is this boy who left me a note?

You are always there like the sea or sky or air

Meet me at the seawall, salt on your toes,

waiting

The Knob

Godbee or Me?

ELEGANT ~ PROTECTIVE ~ NICE EL

EGAN

T ~

PROT

ECTI

VE ~

NIC

E STRONG ~ SMART ~ PRETTY ~ LOVING ~ HAPPY ~ POLITE ~SAFE

STRONG ~ SMART ~ PRETTY ~ LOVING ~ HAPPY ~ POLITE ~SAFE

Dear Godbee, I like to be at your house best of all. I like to climb on the stoney rocks down at the beach. I am a relly brave girl. I like to pretend I’m on a boat on rough water thats sinking.

Love, Martha

A Note from When I Was Six or Seven

I Think I Know What To Do

The World Is Not What You Think It Is

By Jimmy Manning

From One

Generation To

Another

Dad passes the Writing Torch on to me

A Memorial from the Sea

Critical / Analytical Response

Young Authors Write from the Viewpoint of Young People

• I think Henkes did an excellent job of seeing things from the adolescent point of view. He uses multiple techniques to do this – from journal pages to pages from the novel Martha is writing, from conversations on the phone with her best friend to conversations with her elderly grandmother. He also gave us many quick looks into Martha’s thoughts. He did an excellent job of showing adolescent thought processes – even with Vince, Martha’s brother – who was barely recognized in the book, yet you felt you knew him, when he tried to protect his sister’s feelings by not mentioning the bet and the pain his friend had caused her. In those couple of sentences, we saw family versus friend ties, protectiveness, and caring, etc. yet it did not drone on in a sappy way that would make young people go “yuck!”.

“Please, Mother, I Want the Credit!” • The author disposed of the parents at the

grandmother’s house as the kids went to hang out with their friends and the parents did their thing. The parents were really only in the story to provide reality, but the grandmother did still serve a larger purpose – she was her sounding board for when she was ready to share herself and discoveries. Grandma is how we know Martha is overcoming her challenges and making decisions for her future.

Young Adult Literature Is Face-Paced • This novel is very fast paced with each chapter written as a small scene

or thought process. Most chapters are under 5 pages long. Some are even shorter. For example, chapter 34, “Impossible” reads as follows:

– Martha was exhausted, and yet she had a difficult time falling asleep. Over and over she saw the movie of herself walking hand in hand with Jimmy Manning on the beach, a continuous loop playing in her head. Believing it was impossible.

She awoke many times throughout the night – her arms prickly and at odd angles, the sheet twisted tightly around her ankles, the pillow on the floor – and only fell into a deep sleep as the sun began to rise.

• End of chapter. Four sentences recapped the day, finished the night and

took Martha into the next morning. The entire 217 pages take you through these little glimpses into Martha’s life in a similar pace.

• Also, pacing was felt by the words and sentence structure. On page 163, Martha had stepped too far into the water, and was drowning. One, very long sentence exaggerates the time that passes before she surfaces as it encapsulates all the thoughts going through her head. You can almost feel the panic as you yourself are drowning as you read.

Includes a Variety of Genres and Subjects

• This realistic fiction book about self-perception and family battles many subjects within its cover:

– Death and Aging

– Relationships• Friends• Family • Strangers• Dating

– Career choices

YA

The Body of Work Includes Stories about Characters from Many Different Ethnic and

Cultural Groups.

• This particular story doesn’t really focus on characters from many different ethnic or cultural groups. It does contain within it three generations of a family, which does give it a slightly diverse perspective in terms of age, but that is it (and this is not heavily played upon by any means).

Optimistic, with Characters Making Worthy Accomplishments

• Olive’s Ocean is a very optimistic book despite the strong undertones of death throughout the book. Olive looks towards her future as a writer, makes a commitment to spend time with her grandmother while she can, survives the humiliation of being played by her first boyfriend, etc. At the same time, she grows into a more sophisticated person and becomes more independent. She doesn’t return home from her trip to the Cape as the same little girl that she was. At the end of the book, she seems very able to handle death and move on looking towards the future. She lets go of the sadness as she paints Olive’s name in ocean water and watches the name and her sadness evaporate.

YA BOOKS

Successful Young Adult Novels Deal with Emotions That Are Important to Young Adults • Boy does Olive’s Ocean hit this one on the nose! Martha

learned more mature social skills and began to achieve a female sex role, as she began “dating.” She lived through the rush of emotions from holding hands and her first kiss, and the let down of finding out she was a part of a cruel joke. She also learned through Olive’s journal entry about how others feel and to be more sensitive to those around you instead of being so self-absorbed. She began achieving emotional independence from her parents and decided to go visit her grandmother by herself over Christmas break. She made a decision to be a writer and then shared her decision. Throughout the book, Martha develops her personal ideology and ethical standards – realizing how her actions affect others, and how other’s actions can affect her. It was like Henkes opened up our text to page 35 and made a checklist of the developmental tasks the protagonist should go through.