Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Inspired by teen activists, as detailed in an author's note, Hagan (Watch Us Rise) pens a hefty novel-in-verse centering a fictionalized account of the year-round locals of Long Beach Island, a real-life New Jersey beach community, recovering from hurricane devastation. Like many residents, white Eliza Marino, 17, and her family lost nearly everything in the hurricane five years ago. The Marinos have since rebuilt their home and the seafood shack they co-own with the family of Eliza's best friend, Isa, who is Puerto Rican. Determined to save their barrier island from outside development, Eliza, Isa, and their two friends form the Climate Justice Seekers. But their mission is complicated by Eliza's growing feelings for a wealthy summer visitor, New Yorker Milo Harris. Repetitive climate change rhetoric slows plot momentum and sometimes overwhelms Eliza's otherwise moving internal battle between her passion for the ocean and her terror of its destructive capabilities, which manifests in frequent panic attacks as she relives her younger brother Jack's near-drowning. Periodic harrowing hurricane flashbacks and evocative descriptions--"the shoreline and sunsets sinking into the bay and rising over the ocean"--buoy this love letter to LBI's coastal landscape and tight-knit community. Ages 13--up. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (July)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up--Ever since the hurricane that rampaged Long Beach Island, Eliza fears the ocean she once loved. As "water babies" she and her friends found freedom on the Jersey shore, a sanctuary washed away five years ago by a massive storm. Now panic attacks and climate anxiety have driven the 17-year-old into therapy. She blames overdevelopment and greedy newcomers for the loss of habitat and changes to the island that are transforming it from a safe haven for locals into a tourist destination, without regard for threatened species or an endangered way of life. Eliza's passion for climate justice is challenged by her feelings for the new surfer in town, Milo, but she navigates this conflict by showing him the island she loves and what she'll do to protect it. Metaphor, alliteration, consonance, and repetition are used in free-form verse that flows between present and past as Eliza flashes back to the disaster, cataloging her losses and the dangers of the sea. In one poem, staccato meter sounds like the rhythm of industry and multiple meanings of "work" show the myriad ways a family functions. Another verse suggests the hustle and bustle of a busy kitchen and the leisurely enjoyment of home and family. Diversity in skin tone, ethnicity, gender identity, and body type are represented. Back matter includes author's note, lists of environmental organizations, and other resources. Appropriate for middle schoolers; some underage drinking has weighty consequences. VERDICT A welcome addition where novels-in-verse and the works of Elizabeth Acevedo, Nikki Grimes, and Kwame Alexander are popular.--Rebecca Jung
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Eliza Marino's family, lifelong residents of New Jersey's Long Beach Island, lost nearly everything in a devastating hurricane. Five years later, she and her friends are on a mission to preserve their coastal marshland as a habitat for turtles and other wildlife. A lifeguard and talented surfer, Eliza, 17, remains traumatized by the storm that nearly killed her little brother. She and her friends resent the seasonal residents whose oceanfront mansions replaced the modest homes that were destroyed. Ensuring the marshland is preserved is challenging, however. Spontaneously venting their frustration, the teens vandalize a giant home under construction. For Eliza, teaching Milo Harris, a handsome, wealthy, vacationing New Yorker, to surf proves a happy distraction. However, each keeps secrets that threaten their fledgling romance. Despite one character's referencing Indigenous activists, the text does not consider the Indigenous people displaced by the islanders' ancestors. Eliza's dad works in construction, and the cafe her mom co-owns depends on tourists. Such conflicts, though depicted, aren't explored in depth and are primarily framed in an interpersonal context. The novel's strengths are Eliza's compelling voice--her hurricane flashbacks are mesmerizing--and the conveying of emotion; it only lightly explores the theme of youth climate change activism and issues connected to it. Most characters read as White; several secondary characters are Latinx, and one is nonbinary. Heartfelt but inconsistent. (author's note, resources) (Verse novel. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
