GRACIE UNDER THE WAVES

GRACIE UNDER THE WAVES by Linda Sue Park

Most of us may be familiar with the name Linda Sue Park because of her books A Long Walk to Water and A Single Shard. She's back with a new book about coral reefs and the fish that live there.

GRACIE UNDER the Waves is the story of a girl who loves snorkeling. It's time to plan a family vacation, so Gracie puts together a persuasive presentation for her family on why they should head to Roatan, Honduras, this year and enjoy some amazing snorkeling. Her parents talk it over and next thing Gracie knows, they're bound for Roatan. While there Gracie learns that snorkeling isn't all just "laying back and enjoying the fishes" time. There are some serious things to know about as well. The coral reef is experiencing damage due to the boat traffic. Gracie gets a scrape on the coral that becomes pretty infected and limits some of her vacation plans. She also encounters a jellyfish bloom. Despite all of this, the coral reef is a special place for her and she loves to learn about all the fish that call this beautiful place home. This is a fun read for kids who love the ocean, snorkeling, or adventure in general. An added bonus to this story is that Linda Sue Park loves to snorkel herself, and a lot of this book is born out of her own experiences.

I did struggle a bit at the beginning of the book with how realistic it was for Gracie to make the presentation to her parents that she did. It felt a little far fetched, but then we moved on.

HEADS UP- The book mentions climate change and its effect on the reef area.

 Gracie struggles with patience with her younger brother, Ben, sometimes. She strives to work on this, but does periodically lose her temper with him.