Hello, all! ^^ I hope you’ve all had a restful weekend! I was very much buried deep in the throes of rewriting Island Keepers this week (and got myself stuck in a massive rut over the Midpoint. But a huge thank you to my friend from my sprinting group who hopped on a call to brainstorm with me! It truly helped so much, and I am glad to say I’ve dug myself out of said rut!), but I did manage to find plenty of time for reading — and one of the books I read was Sea Glass Girls by Beth Ferry.
This is a middle-grade contemporary that releases on April 27, 2027, and oh my goodness. Every so often, you stumble upon a book that truly tugs at your heartstrings, and this is undoubtedly one of them.
A thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions expressed are very much my own.
The blurb reads: A gorgeously written novel in verse from New York Times bestselling author Beth Ferry about two friends who find themselves drifting apart as they navigate the stormy seas of middle school. Features interior artwork and word puzzles.
When you write in the sand,
the ocean will wipe away your words
as if they were never there.
Otherwise, they stick—to pages, to screens, to hearts—like grains of sand you can’t just brush off. Grace and Jennifer are best friends who learn this the hard way. Every summer, they search the shore for sea glass and tell each other everything. But seventh grade brings big changes. As jealousy bubbles up and friends drift apart, Grace finds herself in uncharted waters . . . Can she fix what’s broken—or will her words leave marks that won’t wash away?
Told through a dazzling chain poem and playful word puzzles from New York Times bestseller Beth Ferry, Sea Glass Girls is a story about the complexities of friendship, the challenges of fitting in and standing out, and how being true to yourself might just be the greatest treasure of all.
I’ve wanted to read Beth Ferry’s books for a long time now and so I was most excited to dive into this one! And it didn’t disappoint at all. First off, the cover is gorgeous. It is so very perfect for this book, and if the illustrations are anything like the cover (alas, my ARC copy did not have the illustrations in them), I have no doubt they shall be splendiferous.
And secondly, I think everything about the story itself is beautiful — from the poetry to the characters to the incorporation of sea glass! I love the main character, Grace! She is such a relatable protagonist, and I loved seeing her as she grows throughout the novel! The book starts out with descriptions of ocean and sea glass that really pull you into the story, before moving on to her memories of meeting Jennifer and the two of them combing the beaches for sea glass together. I really love how, through those first chapters, you really see how close these girls grow. But as the story progresses, they start to drift apart from each other and go their own separate ways (which I thought was so realistically written but also rather sad).
I love that Grace is a writer as well! A poet, to be precise. (Which also makes it cool that this story is told in verse, rather in prose.) As you get deeper into the story, you get to see her love for words and poetry and how she processes her emotions through that.
And speaking of the book being told in free verse, the poetry in this book is amazing! I love free verse poetry, and the author does such a good job of using language and rhythm to paint such a story in your head.
From the moment I cracked open the book, it sucked me right in, and I felt like I was really right there with Grace, on the beach searching for sea glass. I could feel the splashes of the waves, the warm grains of sand beneath my feet, and the (finish this sentence XD)
The book also has word plexers in them, which I thought was so much fun! For those who don’t know what a word plexer is, they look like this:
word plexers snurched from here.
The actual website has the answers to all these, but if you don’t know how this works, the answer for the first one is go for it. (There is a “go”. And then there are four it’s. See? Go for it!!!)
At any rate, the word plexers were so much fun to solve as I read the book!
I loved how very sea-themed this book was and also how sea glass is so tied into the story. As an ocean lover and someone who loves to search for sea glass myself, I thought that was such a wonderful aspect of the story.
But all in all, I am so grateful I got the chance to read this book. It does such a good job of exploring themes of growing up, friendship breakups, forgiveness, and so much more. Friendship breakups (or even friendship issues in general) are always a hard thing to go through, and it’s something I think a lot of middle-graders will relate to. Neither Grace and Jennifer are perfect characters. They’re flawed and both of them have made mistakes, and the story really explores that — what happens when best friends drift apart, owning up to your mistakes but also learning to move on and forgive yourself. I found the ending very bittersweet (yet also joyful, in a strange way) as well.
The only thing I didn’t quite care for about this book was the (very, very occasional — I believe it only occurs once) profanity. The word isn’t written out in full, but the first two letters are there, followed by a grawlix. (Which is the @#!$ thing. Apparently there’s actually a name for that! Who would’ve guessed?) It didn’t detract too much from my enjoyment of the book but I would’ve preferred it to be left out. (I still do love this book dearly though!)
4.5 out of 5 stars from me! I think this is a lovely book for middle-grade readers who enjoy lyrical stories with plenty of heart. If you’re like me and adore the ocean, poetry, or stories about changing friendships, then this is most certainly a book to keep an eye out for!
And of course, we cannot leave out the Cute Fluffy Comrades of this blog. :))
Izzy: This.. (sniff) was a beautiful book. I love it. I love it with all my heart!!! It is… so beautiful. The free verse poetry is amazing, and Grace is a lovely character. All the characters are so human and real, and I may or may not have cried. (blows nose into hanky) A brilliant book!
Charlotte: I… did not love this book. (twiddles her paws sadly) It may indeed be a lovely book for the right people though!! I… do not really love contemporary. Especially sadder contemporary. I want dragons! Rooftop chases! EXPLOSIONS!!! Which is not this book. It does have beautiful poetry though!!!
Fuzzy Bee: This book!!! This book! What can I say about this book! (Other than the fact that Izzy was such a slow reader and I had to wait my turn for weeks. Really, Izzy!) It made me cry as well. The poetry! The friendships! Grace’s lovely mom! The ocean! THE SEA GLASS!! I wish I could give this book a hug. (attempts to hug Kindle) (flails and ends up falling off the desk) (remembers she has wings and buzzes back up)
And there you have it, folks! Thoughts from the CFC of this blog! Do let me know down in the comments what you thought of this review, if you’re looking forward to the release of this book, and also if you’ve ever searched for sea glass!! I would love to hear from y’all!
And, of course, don’t forget to check out Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, where Greg Pattridge and a bunch of other amazing book bloggers come together every Monday to share MG book reviews, interviews, and more!
Till next time and wishing y’all a splendiferous week!
-Isabelle
P.S. Seeing as this book has so much about sea glass in it and I also collect sea glass, I cannot help posting a picture of the sea glass I found in Thailand last year…
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