Customer Reviews

Starfish Summer

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

 

 

I was delighted to give this book to my grandaugter who is spending her first summer away from home, staying with me in Manasquan. Being away from home for an extended period, for the first time is a difficult adjustment at best. I feel the author did a superb job of dealing with the insecurities and universal feelings that can easily overwhelm a child. Most important she helps children understand they are not alone in their feelings, even adults can be insecure with change.

The book helped my grandaughter to aggressively seek out new friendships, delight in new experiences, and understand that missing home is very normal.

As a grandmother, I was grateful to find a book written with such clarity and sensitivity.

This is a wonderful book and I would love to see more work from this writer. I read Starfish Summer after my daughter raved about it and I agree wholehearteldy with her. The characters are beautifully constructed and are warm, funy and most of all, approachable. Amy, the main character, is in the process of learning who she is. For a long time, a Momma's Girl, on her first time away from her Mother, she begins to understand the "remarks "of her peers calling her a Momma Girl. Through a series of encounters with some dynamic and quirky characters at the beach, she begins to find her inner strenth and wins the friendship of a unwilling girl her age. What was most impressive in a book for this age was that the author didn't try to solve all the worlds problems nor lecture about how parents should be. One little girl with a big heart and a lot of courage shows us simply and subtley how by looking at the things we fear on their own terms, we can begin to solve them and grow in the process.