Customer Reviews

The Ocean Within

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I abolutely LOVE this book! I think that nearly everyone who reads it can relate to a part of it. V.M. Caldwell, the author, describes Elizabeths feelings in a way that you find yourself feeling that way to. Each character is so well defined and incredibly well thought out. If you take a moment and put yourself in Elizabeth's shoes, you would probably feel the way she does. This book is for anyone who likes a real down-to-life story.

I laughed and I cried. Then I laughed some more. The author has a very insightful view of an eleven year old girl struggling to come to terms with her emotional past, and learn to be apart of a very rambunctious and lovable family. Loved it.

This was another one of those book discussion books. Reccomended to me by a close friend, I picked up The Ocean Within by V. M. Caldwell. This book tells the wonderful story of Elizabeth, an orphan who has been shipped around from foster family to foster family. Finally, Elizabeth meets the Sheridans, a family who wants to adopt her. However, Elizabeth shuts out all the love that the family gives her, when she spends a month with all the kids of the family, because of the great emotional loss that she has suffered. Even 4-year-old Petey, who calls her Turtle to remind him of her shyness, can't completely break down the barrier that stands between Elizabeth and the rest of the world. Even the ocean, the one thing Elizabeth always dreamed of, doesn't make her happy enough to break through her shell. This was the first book I had read about this type of experience, and I found it to be quite touching and revealing. Caldwell wrote this book in a fantastic fashion, showing the true emotions of Elizabeth and all of the Sheridans. This book was phenomanal, and I would openly recommend this book to any and all young adults looking for a good read.

Though sometimes this book got rather confusing, it is evened out by the amazing writing style. I have had a very different life then the protagonist Elizabeth, yet as I was reading this, I felt as though I was a sympathetic friend who had been through the exact same thing. Though at times I felt like shouting "THEY ARE TRYING TO BE NICE TO YOU" outloud, I realized that I was really connected to the book and the characters. Ms. Caldwell made the characters three dimensional, so that you didn't "like" them all the time, and you didn't "hate" them all the time, like real human beings, you could do both.

A wonderful book for any child who has had to make big adjustments in his or her life!

Elizabeth Lawson is a foster child, and the warm, vital, and noisy Sheridans are her third family placement. When she agrees to let them adopt her, she knows that she will eventually be sent to another home, but the Sheridans have something she wants: a chance to see the ocean. She travels with the family to their grandmother's and is soon swamped by the profusion of siblings and cousins around her who, for reasons Elizabeth can't comprehend, seem to think she's one of them. The brood is presided over by Iron Woman, a disturbing and perceptive threat to Elizabeth's armor of emotional distance. As the summer advances, Elizabeth resists the Sheridan's efforts to make her a part of their family, because she knows that caring for any family when you will eventually have to leave them is a mistake. It is only with Iron Woman's firm and persistent kindness and discipline, and the friendship of the youngest Sheridan, Petey, that Elizabeth's shell begins to crack. This is a wonderfully written book. Caldwell captures exactly the need of a child to protect herself by refusing to connect, as well as Elizabeth's genuine bafflement at the loving way she is treated. The prose is easy to handle and the descriptions of the Sheridans make them very real and three-dimensional to the reader. A definite must-read for older kids, this book can be handled by anyone in 4th or 5th grade up to 12th, depending on their interest and reading ability.

5 stars! * * * * *

The Ocean Within is an amazing story about a young girl who knows what it is like to be givin up. When Elizabeth is sent to another foster home she has givin up all hope that she will ever have a real family again. Elizabeths summer vacation starts when she is sent by her new parents to meet her new cousins and new grandmother. Her grandmother lives near the ocean. When she first arrives at the ocean she is quiet and unliked by her brothers and sisters. But that doesn't matter to her because she wants to see the ocean. Through out this book Elizabeth will live through many events that are breath taking and dangerous.

I was actually disappointed with this book. I am a foster care worker and foster parent trainer and purchased this book with the intent of putting it in our foster/adoptive parent library. I thought the story would be good for foster/adoptive children to read. However, the liberal use of physical punishment was very upsetting. The fact that being spanked with an implement was a sign that the young lady was now accepted as part of the family was very discouraging in the world of foster care/adoption when many young children enter care due to excessive physical discipline. I now cannot use this book that had such potential. It would have been easy enough and more effective to use another "custom" to show the child as part of the family - and one that would not be a reminder to children of the abuse they left behind. I was quite disappointed - it could have been a great tool for children, now I would not give it to anyone to read.

I have always hated reading, but I love this book. People say it is bad because the Grandmother diciplines Elizabeth, but in my opinion it isn't hard core abuse like they make it sound. I thought it showed the fact that the Grandmother didn't care that Elizabeth is a foster child because she treated her the same as all of her other grandchildren. I thought it showed love and acceptance. I am very picky about books and I LOVE the The Ocean Within. You won't regret reading this book.

P.S.
I have heard abuse stories from my mom (a former social worker) and trust me, The Ocean Within does not compare.

I was the same age as the main character, 11 years old, the first time I picked up this book. Although I was never a foster child and am not adopted, I immediately identified with Elizabeth Lawson, and I have read this book countless times since. Don't let the recommeneded age limit for this book turn off any older readers, because Ocean can appeal to both younger and older students. The book's plot is not complex, although Caldwell's phrases and lengthy description of Elizabeth's thoughts and feelings are. Everyone can identify with some of Elizabeth's feelings, and chances are that you will become very attached to the Sheridan family throughout the course of the novel. If you liked this book, I would definitely recommend the Sequel, "Tides".

We are adopting a toddler so I read this book to my 9 year old to explain what it might feel like to be passed around from foster home to foster home and what attachment disorder is. What a great teaching book it was! She was a little apprehensive about the adoption and this book helped her to understand why every child needs a home.
I loved the book and will read it again with my younger (7 year old) daughter. The book helps to understand that you don't always know what is behind people's actions unless you've walked in their shoes.