Girl Out of Water

March 1, 2017
Silverman's debut offers several takes on a good question: "Why do so many people equate growing up with leaving?" Unlike her mother, who enters and exits her life at whim, white, 17-year-old Anise has lived--and surfed--in Santa Cruz her whole life. Her easygoing father and a diverse group of friends provide stability--especially Eric, her white best friend, who's turning into something more. As the friends plan their last summer together before college, Anise's plans are shattered. Her aunt has been in a car accident, and Anise and her dad will be spending the summer in Nebraska caring for her aunt and high-spirited cousins. Anise's reluctance to leave, rooted in worries of forgetting home and being forgotten, will resonate with readers who've ever been homesick. While babysitting her cousins, she meets Lincoln, a black, smart, handsome, witty one-armed skateboarder whose personality quirks are rattled off in lists rather than revealed through interactions. As Anise trades surfing for skating, she gradually matures, feeling a responsibility to her cousins and sympathy for her aunt and father. Nomadic, nature-obsessed Lincoln, whose only flaws seem to be a messy glove compartment and an inability to sing, is an ever patient teacher, showing Anise how to adapt to new places and call them home. A quick summer read to reassure teens who worry about college or blooming where they're planted. (Romance. 14-18)

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March 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Anise was born and raised on the ocean in Santa Cruz, CA. A talented surfer who lives steps away from the water, she is beyond ready for the last summer with her friends before their senior year of high school. Plans quickly change when her aunt, a widow with three children, gets into a serious car accident. Anise and her father have to fly to Nebraska to take care of the house and children. This is not the perfect summer Anise imagined. As she acclimates to life away from water, Anise can't help but feel haunted by the ghost of her runaway mother as she spends time in the house where her mother was raised. As her friends' texts grow fewer and farther between, Anise meets Lincoln. He is a confident skateboarder who has only one arm, and he shows Anise that there is more to life than surf and sand. Anise starts as a seemingly shallow person; being away from her friends forces her to step outside her comfort zone and examine parts of herself and her family that she did not know existed. Though she thinks about her friends in California all the time, they are not nearly as well-developed as her cousins and companions in Nebraska. Readers will empathize with Anise as she explores this different side of her life. The book features a cast of diverse characters and a fresh take on sports (surfing and skateboarding). While the ending is a bit rushed and will leave readers searching for answers about Anise's and Lincoln's futures, this title is ultimately worthy of a spot in any teen's beach bag. VERDICT Purchase for YA and high school collections where summer romance is in demand.-Carli Sauer, Carmel Middle School, IN

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2017
Grades 9-12 Anise has few needs in life. Just the surf, her board, and her tight-knit posse of friends. Then Anise's aunt is in a terrible car accident and needs them to come help care for her children in landlocked Nebraska. One place her younger cousins enjoy is the skate park, where Anise meets a handsome black skater boy, Lincoln. After Anise claims that surfing is harder that skateboarding, Lincoln challenges her to give skating a try. It's a fiasco, but Anise becomes determined to learn to skateboard, and Nebraska slowly grows on her. Debut novelist Silverman realistically captures Anise's love for her surfing life and the terrible sacrifice she makes when leaving it behind for a whole summer, and her relationships with her family are bittersweet and loving, giving her depth of character. Meanwhile, Lincoln is a charmer, and thanks for Silverman's excellent portrayal of a boy who is not defined by his disability, like Anise, readers will easily forget that he is missing an arm. Hand to fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)