[.ca] Olive's Ocean (ISBN 0060535458)

It is just so...serious:
The premise of the story is very thoughtful. Kids do have to deal the death of a classmate sometimes. Martha's relationship with her grandmother is very special and Henkes writes very lovingly of their affection for each other. There are lots of intermediate and jr. high readers who love "growing-up-angst" stories. I think girls 4th grade and up would identify with Martha. It definitely has a place in an elementary library though it is important to remember the medal on the cover does not mean it is a match for all readers nor all age groups . Younger readers would not appreciate the issues Martha faces. The "language" referred to in other reviews is very mild. My main quibble with this book is that it is just \oso\c serious... My guess is Henkes likes to go in a completely different direction from his picture books when he writes novels.

enjoyable quick read!:
Olive's Ocean is about Martha and her eventful summer at her grandmother's place. The story starts off with the death of a girl named Olive. Martha realizes only after Olive's death that they both were very similar and could have been friends. Martha keeps getting "haunted" by Olive's death and later in the book she does an interesting deed for her based on Olive's diary entry which is what the title of this book is named after. The rest of the book is mostly about Martha's summer with her grandmother and how she changes as a person after Olive's death and after that summer. Olive's Ocean is easy to understand and is written quite well. The characters are described very well and the style of writing is impressive. The length of the book is also just right so the story doesn't drag on and get boring. The story is also quite entertaining. All in all, Olive's Ocean is an enjoyable and light hearted quick read.

Olive's Ocean:
Olive's Ocean By: Kevin Henkes Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends, but after a tragic accident when Olive, a lonely girl is hit Martha's life changes! You will love this book! A great fiction book! It's about love, memories, dares, frustrations and sadness! Love because there are two people who think they like each other. The memories are of the Pacific Ocean and Martha's grandmothers' house. The dares because Jimmy has a big dare from his brothers to kiss Martha on camera. Frustration because Martha thought Jimmy kissed her because he liked her not because he wanted money. This book is a book for mostly girls but maybe for boys about 9-15 in ages. It's a great fiction book and has events that might even happen to us someday! Martha, a 12 year old girl, never got to know Olive after a terrible accident where Olive was riding her bike and a car hit her. Olive's mother gives Martha a piece of Olive's diary that Olive wrote about her feelings and hopes in. One section she wrote was: I hope that I can write a book someday. I hope I can go to the real ocean such as the Atlantic or Pacific. I hope that I get to know Martha Boyle next year (or this summer). I hope that we can be friends. That is my biggest hope. Martha then realizes they have a great connection. Martha secretly wants to be a writer and visit the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean and so does Olive! What is Martha going to do now knowing her and Olive have a big connection? This book is absolutely amazing I would rate this book 100\s100! Here's why: It tells a great story that has lots of friendship and trusting in it could be a real story and has lots of events that might happen to us. It is a great Kevin Henkes book and you will love it! This book is touching; full of love, memories and sadness it was absolutely amazing! Olive's Ocean is FANTASTIC!!!

Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography:
Author - Daniel Handler. Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography. Publisher - HarperCollins, 2002 Short Summary - A page-turner of a detective story, the book attempts to solve multiple mysteries, not the least of which could be, "Who is the author of this book, and can the author be trusted?" The reader becomes the spy, who follows clues found in various narrative threads. The result is a scrapbook-like top-secret file of artifacts for examination. As a fusion of genre, perplexing evidence crouches in familiar formats recognizable as pieces of letters, sheet music, theatrical scripts, photo-journalism, newspapers, secret codes, treasure maps, booklists, obituaries and revised diary manuscripts. In the end, the reader is left with unanswered questions, such as: "Is there anything a concerned citizen can do if he or she wants to help the Beaudelaires?" Both the hope of resolution and the burden of proof pass to the reader, upon joining this peculiar spy ring brotherhood. Initiates inherit a set of crucial tools of discovery and the passwords, "The world is quiet here." Join at your own risk. 212 pages Brief Evaluation - "What can be hidden in a book?" Here's a book intended to stretch every reader's ability to find out. Junior High School-aged readers will be challenged, as a willingness to venture beyond oneself produces a much deeper sense of satisfaction in this reading experience. The results of any call for "thumbs-up" or "thumbs-down" on this book remains thoroughly dependent on the reader's level of literature appreciation. Recommendations using VOYA evaluation codes: 5 for Quality/ 2 for popularity. A superior book for younger readers with an interest in knowing more about literature and literary pursuits. An enjoyable, helpful book for readers learning to improve critical literacy skills. Read Aloud Pages - ix - xvi, and discuss the reversible cover Literary Principle - allusion

Good, But... Not as Good as I Thought:
Ok, again people, Newbery is spelled N.E.W.B.E.R.Y.. Please look up certain words you are unsure of. This will save you from some unecessary embarassment. Knock on wood. :)(Why would someone write a review about a book before they read it) Martha Boyle has just strangely recieved a journal entry from a deceased classmates journal. The girl, named Olive, proclaims Martha "the nicest girl in class" (kinda unrealistic, since they had never formally met. While her family ( a mother, father baby sister, and teenage brother) have their yearly visit to Cape Cod, where her "godbee" lives, she finds herself thinking about Olive, forming a strong relationship with Godbee, and realizing that boys can be complete pigs at times. Read Olive's Ocean if you can relate to really DEEP people, who write unlike any REAL (...).