A review by maiakobabe
Sea Legs by Jules Bakes

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

Set in 1993, and heavily based on the author's lived experience, this graphic novel follows Janey's very unusual fourth grade year. Her parents own and live on a 40-foot steel sailing ship. They've been mooring in Miami, Florida, and Janey has been attending a regular public school where she has made a best friend, Rae. But Janey's parents want to set to sea again, so Janey and her cat Sassa are off to the Caribbean. There are many wonderful things about sailing- new islands, new food, new views every morning- but it's lonely too. Janey sends letters to Rae but can only receive them when the family stays in a port long enough to get a PO box. She's often bored, doesn't want to do her homework, wishes she had any friends near by. Finally the family's boat, the Merrimaid, stops St Thomas for a while, where her parents get part time jobs. Janey spots a girl only a little older living on another boat in the harbor. Astrid is aloof, challenging, mysterious, and knows a lot of places on the island where kids can get into trouble. Janey is entranced by her, but too young to see the precarious and potentially abusive situation Astrid is living in. This book is BEAUTIFULLY drawn, bright and sharp. I was completely drawn in to Janey's world and the struggles she faces with her parents and her two very different friends, Rae and Astrid. This book brought back how hard it was to maintain a long distance friendship in the 90s, and also pointed out how easy it is for kids without responsible adults in their lives to disappear off the map. It's more challenging and dark than the colorful cover suggests but I HIGHLY recommend it.