Olive's Ocean
WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU BAN THIS BOOK?
Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes
Olive’s Ocean should be allowed to be read in the 10th Grade curriculum. It's a story about a lesson that most teenagers go through. Whether they lose someone or gain new friends.
Martha's life is twisted upside down during a summer trip to her Grandma's house. She discovers the death of a girl in her class who she rarely talked to, and has a crush on a boy she never thought she'd like. Olive Barstowe was a girl in Martha's class that never said a word to Martha, except when Olive Barstowe was killed in a bicycle accident, Olive's mom gave Martha a ripped out sheet of paper in Olive's journal. On the scribbled written notebook paper, Olive wrote how good of a person Martha was and how she wished they were better friends, because she was the only person who was nice to her. Martha also found out that her and Olive had a lot of things in common, including wanting to be a writer and the Atlantic Ocean. When Martha visits her Grandma at the beach Martha makes it a priority to collect a jar of ocean water and call it Olive's Ocean. Martha could not get it out of her head that Olive was not there anymore, and life can end for anyone at any second. Martha learns a valuable lesson about life, death, and friendships throughout the story, and in the end accepts Olive's death and moves on as a more understanding young teenager.
Olive's Ocean should not be banned for many reasons. It shows how to deal with losing loved one's and growing up in the hard times of life. The book has a wonderful lesson and should be kept in the 10th grade curriculum so teenagers have something to read about when they could possibly be going through the same situation.
Martha's life is twisted upside down during a summer trip to her Grandma's house. She discovers the death of a girl in her class who she rarely talked to, and has a crush on a boy she never thought she'd like. Olive Barstowe was a girl in Martha's class that never said a word to Martha, except when Olive Barstowe was killed in a bicycle accident, Olive's mom gave Martha a ripped out sheet of paper in Olive's journal. On the scribbled written notebook paper, Olive wrote how good of a person Martha was and how she wished they were better friends, because she was the only person who was nice to her. Martha also found out that her and Olive had a lot of things in common, including wanting to be a writer and the Atlantic Ocean. When Martha visits her Grandma at the beach Martha makes it a priority to collect a jar of ocean water and call it Olive's Ocean. Martha could not get it out of her head that Olive was not there anymore, and life can end for anyone at any second. Martha learns a valuable lesson about life, death, and friendships throughout the story, and in the end accepts Olive's death and moves on as a more understanding young teenager.
Olive's Ocean should not be banned for many reasons. It shows how to deal with losing loved one's and growing up in the hard times of life. The book has a wonderful lesson and should be kept in the 10th grade curriculum so teenagers have something to read about when they could possibly be going through the same situation.