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bibliobrandie's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! The characters were well-developed, the plot was perfectly paced, and the setting was fantastic (who doesn't dream of being a lighthouse attendant on the Shetland Islands?). The illustrations were also stunning! The book handled the topic of Julia's mother's mental illness with sensitivity and care. You feel just as bewildered as Julia as her mom's fascination with the Greenland shark turns into an obsession. The heavy themes are handled gracefully and never feel overdone. Overall, it's a truly beautiful book. Read with 'How Old is a Whale!'
katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
Family issues and a search for an elusive shark.
Rather moving, this is Julia's summer story. Engaging with her readers and very engaging herself, she's been driven up to the upmost and most remote corner of the UK, her father to fix a lighthouse, her mother to search for a shark that she believes may be able to slow time and thus help understand how to slow dementia.
Julia loves her parents and cat Noodle but does see in her own childlike way the stresses of their work, in their relationship, and also struggles to know how to speak with a local boy, Kin, who is clearly being bullied by others and just wants to be able to study the stars.
Where does Julia fit in? Desperate to be as wanted by her mum as the shark is, she is a child struggling to understand both a grown-up world and problems that even adults don't always handle well.
For older readers (adults) it might be obvious that Julia's mum has a particular mental health condition, but it's heartbreaking to all to see Julia rebuffed and the whole family straining to remain a unit at times.
The author's previous works have all been just as captivating in their own niches, adn this time her husband adds his illustrations to the piece, in black, white and yellow (with meaning in the text) which adds some beauty to the story that clearly already revels in the natural world.
Long-listed for the Carnegie award, it would fit nicely in a shortlist as well. Realistic young characters, a quiet but ultimately adventurous plot, several important issues covered well for the age range and an environmental tone throughout.
For ages 9-13.
Rather moving, this is Julia's summer story. Engaging with her readers and very engaging herself, she's been driven up to the upmost and most remote corner of the UK, her father to fix a lighthouse, her mother to search for a shark that she believes may be able to slow time and thus help understand how to slow dementia.
Julia loves her parents and cat Noodle but does see in her own childlike way the stresses of their work, in their relationship, and also struggles to know how to speak with a local boy, Kin, who is clearly being bullied by others and just wants to be able to study the stars.
Where does Julia fit in? Desperate to be as wanted by her mum as the shark is, she is a child struggling to understand both a grown-up world and problems that even adults don't always handle well.
For older readers (adults) it might be obvious that Julia's mum has a particular mental health condition, but it's heartbreaking to all to see Julia rebuffed and the whole family straining to remain a unit at times.
The author's previous works have all been just as captivating in their own niches, adn this time her husband adds his illustrations to the piece, in black, white and yellow (with meaning in the text) which adds some beauty to the story that clearly already revels in the natural world.
Long-listed for the Carnegie award, it would fit nicely in a shortlist as well. Realistic young characters, a quiet but ultimately adventurous plot, several important issues covered well for the age range and an environmental tone throughout.
For ages 9-13.
eyas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mehsi's review against another edition
4.0
“The bed was a boat,
the shark a tide,
an it pulled me so far out to sea
I was only a speck, a spot, a mote,
a dying star in an unending sky.”
I loved that little remote island. With a tiny village. Loved seeing what the parents were going to be doing. Loved Noodles who was just the cutest little thing and I loved how she followed the family around everywhere. Loved that little library, so proud of this village for not giving up. Man, I wish I had a lot of money, I would donate that to little libraries everywhere. I loved the little sea and star facts that we got as the story continued. I loved that the title of the book popped up later in the book (always a big plus). Love love the cover. Love that there are little see-through pages with something drawn on them so the picture or text on the next page looks extra special.
I loved the addition of poems! I wasn’t expecting them, but I can say I found myself looking forward to them as soon as I found out they came around more often.
The mental health, on the one hand, beautifully written. I know someone with bipolar so I recognised the signs of what the mom had quite early in the book. How she was over the moon happy and then the next moment so down in the dumps that she was practically living in a deep well. We could see all the swings. See the way she reacted to things. See how things escalated with each week. Each time they were there longer. Read that this wasn’t the first episode in her life. That she had others. However, while it was well-written I wasn’t too happy with how the parents handled that in regards to Julia. The dad did try to explain things to Julia, but for most Julia just felt like she was doing things badly. Like she had to work harder. Like she had to compensate and just do better. And my heart broke for this girl and I just wished that the parents, and then especially dad as he knew what was up, had just gotten help sooner. Before it all went so horribly wrong. Before Julia made a big mistake. A mistake she wouldn’t have made if she hadn’t been left alone without much explanation. A mistake that wouldn’t have happened if everyone just had talked.
But I am deducing 1 star in total because of these two points:
The bullying and how that is handled. We have a bully in our midst in this town and he has been after Kin for years now. Being aggressive, making names, doing other shitty things. Now Julia is here and he has found a new target along with Kin. But Julia isn’t like Kin. Julia speaks up. And yes, what she said was mean, but was it needed? Yes. Clearly. I was rooting for this girl. To speak up. I would have done the same thing. But what happens next shocked me, or actually given how books are these days maybe not that much shock, Kin turns his back on Julia because HOW DARE SHE SPEAK UP against a bully in such a mean boohoo fashion, doesn’t she know that Adrian lost his mommy and daddy. Cue to home where Julia gets even more punishment and even has to write A FUCKING letter of APOLOGY to that boy. WTF. Seriously, what is up with books these days? I have been bullied relentlessly for years, and reading that one has to feel sorry for those poor little fucking bullies because OMG OMG they are so so so sad, they cannot help it, they had a sad past, you should feel sorry for them and HELP them. NO, just fuck off. I have been bullied to the point of almost committing suicide (and I will keep it at that) and I am still mentally scarred and not mentally OK thanks to those years of bullying. Now I am constantly reading in books how sad bullies are and I can tell you, I feel shit. Like as a person who has been bullied I am the bad one. I should just have given those horrible people a hug and everything would have been OK! *rolls eyes*
Kin and Julia’s friendship. Well, at times I saw the sparks of a friendship. How he hugged her when things got a bit dark. How they both watched stars and shared bits of information, she about the sea and he about the star. How they chatted. But then Julia would just do one little thing, often out of not knowing or just because she wanted to help, and BOOM Kin just shut her off for days. Not talking to her, being huffy and all that. I am sorry, but that is a big nope for me in a friendship.
The ending. On the one hand I thought it fitted with the book, but on the other hand I was also scratching my head so much. I mean, hello, how did no one notice that a little girl was out there all alone? How did that guy on the radio not hear that he had a kid on the other end. How did she even know how to use all the things? It is not like her mom took her out. It just reminded me of another book about a polar bear (which I DNF-ed but I did check the ending).
The illustrations were gorgeous though, I loved the style and I loved that the colours were all yellow, grey, black, white.
All in all, despite some issues, I was mesmerised by this book. It was a gorgeous and heartbreaking book. I am happy I picked it up at my library.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
the shark a tide,
an it pulled me so far out to sea
I was only a speck, a spot, a mote,
a dying star in an unending sky.”
I loved that little remote island. With a tiny village. Loved seeing what the parents were going to be doing. Loved Noodles who was just the cutest little thing and I loved how she followed the family around everywhere. Loved that little library, so proud of this village for not giving up. Man, I wish I had a lot of money, I would donate that to little libraries everywhere. I loved the little sea and star facts that we got as the story continued. I loved that the title of the book popped up later in the book (always a big plus). Love love the cover. Love that there are little see-through pages with something drawn on them so the picture or text on the next page looks extra special.
I loved the addition of poems! I wasn’t expecting them, but I can say I found myself looking forward to them as soon as I found out they came around more often.
The mental health, on the one hand, beautifully written. I know someone with bipolar so I recognised the signs of what the mom had quite early in the book. How she was over the moon happy and then the next moment so down in the dumps that she was practically living in a deep well. We could see all the swings. See the way she reacted to things. See how things escalated with each week. Each time they were there longer. Read that this wasn’t the first episode in her life. That she had others. However, while it was well-written I wasn’t too happy with how the parents handled that in regards to Julia. The dad did try to explain things to Julia, but for most Julia just felt like she was doing things badly. Like she had to work harder. Like she had to compensate and just do better. And my heart broke for this girl and I just wished that the parents, and then especially dad as he knew what was up, had just gotten help sooner. Before it all went so horribly wrong. Before Julia made a big mistake. A mistake she wouldn’t have made if she hadn’t been left alone without much explanation. A mistake that wouldn’t have happened if everyone just had talked.
But I am deducing 1 star in total because of these two points:
The bullying and how that is handled. We have a bully in our midst in this town and he has been after Kin for years now. Being aggressive, making names, doing other shitty things. Now Julia is here and he has found a new target along with Kin. But Julia isn’t like Kin. Julia speaks up. And yes, what she said was mean, but was it needed? Yes. Clearly. I was rooting for this girl. To speak up. I would have done the same thing. But what happens next shocked me, or actually given how books are these days maybe not that much shock, Kin turns his back on Julia because HOW DARE SHE SPEAK UP against a bully in such a mean boohoo fashion, doesn’t she know that Adrian lost his mommy and daddy. Cue to home where Julia gets even more punishment and even has to write A FUCKING letter of APOLOGY to that boy. WTF. Seriously, what is up with books these days? I have been bullied relentlessly for years, and reading that one has to feel sorry for those poor little fucking bullies because OMG OMG they are so so so sad, they cannot help it, they had a sad past, you should feel sorry for them and HELP them. NO, just fuck off. I have been bullied to the point of almost committing suicide (and I will keep it at that) and I am still mentally scarred and not mentally OK thanks to those years of bullying. Now I am constantly reading in books how sad bullies are and I can tell you, I feel shit. Like as a person who has been bullied I am the bad one. I should just have given those horrible people a hug and everything would have been OK! *rolls eyes*
Kin and Julia’s friendship. Well, at times I saw the sparks of a friendship. How he hugged her when things got a bit dark. How they both watched stars and shared bits of information, she about the sea and he about the star. How they chatted. But then Julia would just do one little thing, often out of not knowing or just because she wanted to help, and BOOM Kin just shut her off for days. Not talking to her, being huffy and all that. I am sorry, but that is a big nope for me in a friendship.
The ending. On the one hand I thought it fitted with the book, but on the other hand I was also scratching my head so much. I mean, hello, how did no one notice that a little girl was out there all alone? How did that guy on the radio not hear that he had a kid on the other end. How did she even know how to use all the things? It is not like her mom took her out. It just reminded me of another book about a polar bear (which I DNF-ed but I did check the ending).
The illustrations were gorgeous though, I loved the style and I loved that the colours were all yellow, grey, black, white.
All in all, despite some issues, I was mesmerised by this book. It was a gorgeous and heartbreaking book. I am happy I picked it up at my library.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
evangelinereading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
animelanie's review against another edition
4.0
Read for PRC
Family & relationships are the main focus of this lovely book, with a look at mental health as well
Family & relationships are the main focus of this lovely book, with a look at mental health as well
bickie's review against another edition
4.0
Julia and her family moves to a remote lighthouse for 2 months the summer before she turns 11 so that her father can automate the light. Her mother, a marine biologist, takes advantage of the opportunity to chase the elusive Greenland Shark in hopes that it will yield its secrets to longevity. While Julia begins a friendship with local bully-bait, Kin, Julia's father struggles with all his wires, and Julia's mother becomes even more manic in her shark quest. Julia begins having nightmares about the shark, written in italics with the words shaped like the shark like a concrete poem. Tom de Freston's illustrations are gorgeous, evoking mysteries of the sea and sky (stars and starlings), and they break up the text quite a bit, making it perhaps more accessible to more reluctant readers.
I found the constant discussion of needing to wash Julia's father's underpants perplexing. What about hers and her mom's? Perhaps it was done for laughs, perhaps it was supposed to be some kind of inside joke between Julia and her mother, though it didn't read that way.
Told in first person through Julia's voice, which I found endearing. Addresses complexities such as saving instant noodle containers and buying candy in bulk to avoid using too much plastic while also eating sausage rolls by the dozen. Muses on the limitations of binary systems (mom is all words and science and possibilities, dad is all numbers and practicality).
CW:
I found the constant discussion of needing to wash Julia's father's underpants perplexing. What about hers and her mom's? Perhaps it was done for laughs, perhaps it was supposed to be some kind of inside joke between Julia and her mother, though it didn't read that way.
Told in first person through Julia's voice, which I found endearing. Addresses complexities such as saving instant noodle containers and buying candy in bulk to avoid using too much plastic while also eating sausage rolls by the dozen. Muses on the limitations of binary systems (mom is all words and science and possibilities, dad is all numbers and practicality).
CW:
Spoiler
bullying, history of child abuse (unspecified, off-page), bipolar disorder, near drowning, attempted suicide of parentlieselie's review against another edition
4.0
Wauw! Zo mooi vormgegeven en zo’n indrukwekkend verhaal. Er zouden meer boeken moeten verschijnen zoals dit. Boeken over een ouder met mentale problemen en wat dit betekent voor het kind. Soms vond ik Julia iets te wijs voor haar leeftijd. Zeker op het laatst, maar verder is dit zo boek knap en realistisch geschreven. De sfeer en setting waren magisch en mysterieus. Het geheel van tekst en illustraties was prachtig gedaan!