A review by bookishmomlady
Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes

5.0

I read this book a long time ago. Maybe 15 years ago or so… possibly closer to twenty. I was an adult then, too. 15ish years later I didn’t really remember all the details of the book, I only remembered I used it as my answer to “what’s your favorite book?” ever since. And no I don’t care that it’s a children’s book.

Olive’s Ocean is a book that will remind you of that exact spot in your life where you’re on the cusp of not being a little kid anymore. At least for me, that time was tough. I wanted to be a little baby that my parents took care of, yet I craved privacy and independence. I felt very grown by the changes my body was going through, but also ashamed like I was growing up too fast or was abnormally weird. Mix in some thoughts about death- the inevitable deaths of your older relatives and the possibility of surprise deaths of your peers and this book just captures that unique time period in a child’s life. Things don’t work out as they seem, but life goes on and there’s lots of good to come w the bad… just like life. It’s a tiny little book w generously margined pages, and not that high of a page count. I would love if you’d read it and let me know what you thought of it as well.