Michael Cart (Booklist, Sep. 1, 2003 (Vol. 100, No. 1))
More than anything Martha wants to be a writer. The problem is that her father does, too. Is there room for two writers in a single family? This is only one of the many questions that beg to be answered during Martha's twelfth summer. Here are others: Is Godbee, the paternal grandmother whom the family is visiting at Cape Cod, dying? Why is Martha's father so angry? Could Jimmy, the eldest of the five neighboring Manning brothers, be falling in love with her (and vice-versa)? And what does all this have to do with Olive, Martha's mysterious classmate, who died after being hit by a car weeks earlier? Olive, who also wanted to be a writer and visit the ocean, and hoped to be Martha's friend. Like Henkes' Sun and Spoon (1997), this is another lovely, character-driven novel that explores, with rare subtlety and sensitivity, the changes and perplexities that haunt every child's growing-up process. He brings to his story the same bedrock understanding of the emotional realities of childhood that he regularly displays in his paradigmatically perfect picture books. This isn't big and splashy, but its quiet art and intelligence will stick with readers, bringing them comfort and reassurance as changes inevitably visit their own growing-up years. Category: Books for Middle Readers--Fiction. 2003, HarperCollins/Greenwillow, $15.99, $16.89. Gr. 5-8. Starred Review

Susan Hepler, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Martha is bothered by the death of a girl, Olive, whom she barely knew. In this story that takes place in about a week, she manages to remember Olive in a way that will let her go on. Martha is also betrayed by a boy into a first kiss, which she parlays into even more strength. Martha is so memorable, as are the other characters in the story--Henkes is a master at creating people we know engaged in the business of growing up, in all the shaggy wonder that implies. I think middle school girls will like not being talked down to in Olive's Ocean. They will like the way Martha begins to see boys and first loves, how she deals with the realization that her grandmother is probably sicker than she is letting on, how she observes the way adults and parents lose their tempers and patch things up, and the way she begins to figure what life might be all about--to her. A superior growing up/coming-of-age story. 2003, Greenwillow, $15.99. Ages 10 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2004)
Twleve-year-old Martha Boyle and her family are preparing to leave for their annual Cape Cod vacation to visit her grandmother, Godbee, when Olive Barstow's mother appears at the door. Olive was a classmate of Martha's who was recently killed by a car. In the journal entry that Olive's mother has come to share, Olive outlines her plan of becoming a writer and her dreams of seeing the ocean. She also writes that Martha Boyle is the nicest girl in her class. It's all a jolt to Martha. Like everyone else, she didn't know Olive well, and can't recall ever being particularly kind to the misfit girl, with whom, she discovers too late, she had much in common. Martha, too, dreams of becoming a writer, although she hasn't shared her desire with anyone. And the ocean is her favorite place to be. The unsettled feeling she's left with is a portent of how the entire summer will unfold. On vacation, Martha is struck by the fact that her beloved grandmother is getting old. And Martha falls in love, but the tender sweetness of her first crush ends in cruel humiliation that leaves Martha reeling. The introspective Martha holds a lot inside. But vital and vibrant Godbee is sensitive to her granddaughter's turbulent feelings and gently encourages her to share what she can-and is willing-about her thoughts, her fears, and her dreams. Martha is also part of a lively and funny family whose relationships are loving and edgy, as parents and siblings so often are. Kevin Henkes's novel sparkles with strong characterization, fine dialogue, and lovely imagery that help propel a sensitive story about a summer of new awakening. CCBC categories: Fiction for Children; The Arts; Understanding Oneself and Others. 2003, Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins, 224 pages, $15.99. Ages 10-14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 13))
On her family's Cape Cod vacation, Martha is haunted by a journal entry left by a dead classmate. Olive, an unremarkable loner, hoped to have Martha ("the nicest girl in the class") as a friend. This summer 12-year-old Martha is noticing her grandmother's aging, experiencing adolescent alienation from her affectionate family, and feeling the self-consciousness of yearning for her neighbor Jimmy. Jimmy, 14 and an aspiring filmmaker, surprises Martha with his attentions, inquires whether she has ever been kissed, and asks to film her for his video. Their kiss captured on film, as it turns out, is the result of a wager. Well-plotted, the working out of Martha's feelings of humiliation, her renewed connection to family, and her final gesture towards the dead Olive are effected with originality and grace. Henkes's characters never lack for the inner resilience that comes from a grounding in the ultimate decency of family. Characters and setting are painted in with the deft strokes of an experienced artist. Few girls will fail to recognize themselves in Martha. 2003, Greenwillow/HarperCollins, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 10 to 13. Starred Review. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, July 2003 (Vol. 37, No. 4))
Martha Boyle is one of the memorable 12-year-old girls of fiction, smart, confused, compassionate. I like the fact that she has been created by a male author, who manages to combine poetic images with realistic down-to-earth growing pains. Most of the story takes place within a two-week period when Martha and her family are vacationing on the New England coast at their grandmother's home. Martha has been seared by the accidental death of a classmate, Olive, who no one really liked much. Olive's mother delivers a paper written by Olive to Martha in which Olive wrote that Martha was someone she hoped could be her friend, that Olive wanted to be a writer, that she wanted to see the ocean. So as Martha goes off for the two weeks, she tries to become the writer Olive now has no chance of being and she tries to appreciate the ocean that Olive no longer will be able to see. Martha is close to her elderly grandmother, who encourages her writing. Other important characters are Martha's little toddler sister, her parents, and her older brother. At the beach, a boy next door takes an interest in Martha, who experiences the first pangs of attraction and then humiliation when she finds out the boy is just using her in his filmmaking efforts--interested in her more as a subject for his film than for the person she is. Fortunately, the boy has a brother who restores Martha's faith in herself. Here is a sample passage: "Martha admired her brother, and liked and loved him, too, even as she sometimes was offended by him. He was sarcastic and funny and smart and oddly childlike, and could be counted on to be brutally honest concerning matters of the greatest importance. 'You've got a zit on the back of your neck that's ready to explode,' he'd once told her. 'Don't wear those shoes in public,' he'd said another time, 'unless you want to look like a complete dork.'" The book is divided into chapters of various lengths that are frequently like prose poems, some a few sentences, some several paragraphs, others four or five pages long, each with the sort of title one might expect in a book of poetry. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: J*--Exceptional book, recommended for junior high school students. 2003, HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 217p., $15.99. Ages 12 to 15.

Sherry Hoy (Library Media Connection, March 2004)
While twelve-year-old Martha Boyle is packing to leave for Grandmother's cottage on the northeastern coast, Olive Barstow's mother visits her. Olive's mother delivers a journal entry Olive wrote about wanting to be friends with Martha (Olive was killed two weeks before in a bicycling accident.). While at her Grandmother's cottage, Martha discovers her attraction to the boy next door, receives her first kiss, and experiences her first heartache when she finds out he not only kissed her on a bet, he videotaped it! She almost drowns while gathering a jar of seawater to take home for Olive, who also wrote that she hoped to go to a real ocean instead of just a lake. Amid all this activity and with much soul-searching, Martha faces what all young people eventually have to-growing up. Although the plot lines seem disparate, it all fits together into a beautifully developed coming-of-age story with real characters and real angst. Life is portrayed as not all gloom and doom; sometimes happenings charm the reader and some episodes are downright amusing. Most touching is Martha's decision of what to do with Olive's "ocean" after she learns that Olive's mother has moved away. Martha realizes how good her own life really is-what she has in her family and friends. Recommended. 2003, Greenwillow Books, 217pp., $15.99 hc. Ages 11 to 14.

Karen Coats (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September 2003 (Vol. 57, No. 1))
A rather morbid premise underlies this tender coming-of-age story: the mother of Olive Barstow, a twelve-year-old girl killed in a bicycle accident, appears at Martha Boyle’s door with a bit of Olive’s journal. Apparently, Olive had three unrealized hopes at the time of her death--to see the ocean, to become a writer, and to befriend Martha. Martha is touched by her similarities to the dead girl, as she too wishes to be a writer, and she is in fact on her way to visit her grandmother who lives in a cottage overlooking the ocean. Her vacation becomes a meaningful rite of passage, involving a first crush, a first kiss, and a first betrayal, as well as many large and small epiphanies about life, love, death, and her place in the universe. If it sounds thoroughly clichéd, that’s because it is, from plot to characters, but it is also affirming and not overly sentimental. Henkes’ use of short chapters, many less than a page long, present much of the story in sensory poetic vignettes that limn the plot with a contemplative stillness; readers with a view toward the delicate melancholy of growing up, and the even more profound melancholy of not growing up, will find emotional affirmation here. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2003, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2003, Greenwillow, 224p, $16.89 and $15.99. Grades 4-8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2004)
Henkes draws us into one summer in the life of a familiar, convincing, fully realized twelve-year-old girl. The book is a web of relationships with Martha at the center. A beloved older brother begins to pull away. Martha sees her grandmother with new eyes. Martha and her mother can't seem to stop irritating each other. Henkes's strengths as a fiction writer--economy, grace, humor, and respect for his characters--are given wonderful play here. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2003, Greenwillow, 217pp, $15.99, $16.89. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.

Susan Walker (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 16, No. 3))
OLIVE'S OCEAN is a wonderful story of a young, almost teenage girl, Martha Boyle, whose world seems to be changing continuously after she learns of classmate, Olive Barstowe's, death. Olive's mother brings Martha a page from Olive's journal about Martha being a good friend to Olive, which keeps her thinking of the death all summer long. When Martha's family goes on vacation to Cape Cod, she hopes to forget about Olive, but while visiting her grandmother, the memories keep flooding back due to discussions with her beloved grandmother. Life is not easy for Martha that summer while becoming a teenager. While at the Cape, Martha's problems are complicated by the Manning boys. Normal teenage crushes, a first kiss, and boyish pranks make Martha's summer definitely unforgettable. This book is a thought-provoking story about growing up and the problems that may arise. It would be a wonderful addition to a library for teenaged readers. Fiction. n/a. 2003, Greenwillow Books, 217p., $16.89.

Jenny Ingram (VOYA, December 2003 (Vol. 26, No. 5))
After twelve-year-old Martha Boyle's classmate Olive dies in a bicycle accident, Olive's mother delivers a page from her daughter's journal to Martha. The entry reveals that Olive wanted to be a writer, that she wanted to visit the ocean someday, and that she hoped to befriend Martha because she was the nicest person in their class. Martha, realizing that she will never know why Olive felt this way and also realizing that no one in their class knew much about her, sets out to memorialize Olive in small ways. Coincidentally, she recently has also decided to become an author, and she is leaving the next day for summer vacation at the ocean. Martha initially adopts some of Olive's thoughts for a story as she begins to write about her dead classmate, but ultimately the ocean and Martha's own idea provide closure to the enigma of Olive. Henkes's story is subtle and satisfyingly untidy. Martha recounts an episode at school that the reader can recognize as the reason Olive admired her, but she never deduces this. There are hints that the novel's most likeable character, Martha's grandmother, is in poor health, but Henkes neither confirms nor denies it. And the only conclusion that Martha comes to regarding Olive is that she will never know anything else about her. Hints of romance, parents who are slightly clueless, and a sense of empathy for embarrassing moments will draw teenage girls to this book and allow them to identify with Martha. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2003, Greenwillow, 224p., $15.99 and PLB $16.89. Ages 11 to 15.

Kristen Moreland, Teen Reviewer (VOYA, December 2003 (Vol. 26, No. 5))
This book grabs you right from the start with its intriguing plot. Henkes does a good job of capturing Martha's emotions so they seem real and easy to relate to. I liked how the story was separated into many short chapters, using the main idea of the chapter as its name. This book would appeal to most middle-school girls. VOYA CODES: 3Q 4P M J (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2003, Greenwillow, 224p., $15.99 and PLB $16.89. Ages 11 to 15.