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A review by ktmiller_14
How to Make Friends with the Sea by Tanya Guerrero
4.0
This would have been a great book for middle school me.
Pablo is an eleven year old living in the Philippines with his mother, Carmen. Usually Carmen helps save wildlife, though this time she's decided to save a child, Chiqui. Chiqui has a cleft lip and needs some health issues taken care of before being adopted. Over the course of the novel, Pablo gets to know Chiqui as much as his own fears. Through learning how to be a brother, he learns to face his fears and enjoy what good life has to offer.
Which was beautiful. I related to Pablo a lot, especially with his fears related to germs and struggles to ground himself. I don't have OCD so I can't really comment on how that is presented, but as someone with a different diagnosed anxiety disorder, I appreciate seeing mental health struggles depicted more authentically in middle grade literature.
The setting of the Philippines, I think, served to highlight everything Pablo is afraid of. And seeing him grow so much throughout the novel was amazing to see. This was a stellar debut novel! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more from Tanya Guerrero.
Pablo is an eleven year old living in the Philippines with his mother, Carmen. Usually Carmen helps save wildlife, though this time she's decided to save a child, Chiqui. Chiqui has a cleft lip and needs some health issues taken care of before being adopted. Over the course of the novel, Pablo gets to know Chiqui as much as his own fears. Through learning how to be a brother, he learns to face his fears and enjoy what good life has to offer.
Which was beautiful. I related to Pablo a lot, especially with his fears related to germs and struggles to ground himself. I don't have OCD so I can't really comment on how that is presented, but as someone with a different diagnosed anxiety disorder, I appreciate seeing mental health struggles depicted more authentically in middle grade literature.
The setting of the Philippines, I think, served to highlight everything Pablo is afraid of. And seeing him grow so much throughout the novel was amazing to see. This was a stellar debut novel! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more from Tanya Guerrero.