“What was it like for authors growing up?” This is the question author Kevin Henkes asked. He then wrote a book in response to that question, the story of young Martha Boyle who wants to be a writer. Olive’s Ocean would later be published in 2003, and go on to win the 2004 Newberry Honor.
But there’s another question interlaced with the story’s narrative. And that question is, “How do you make peace with mortality?”
Martha Boyle visits her grandmother, Godbee, by the ocean with her family every summer. But when Martha’s twelve, her classmate Olive is killed in an accident. Weeks later, just before the Boyles leave for their vacation, Olive’s mother visits Martha and gives her a page of Olive’s journal. This page haunts Martha for the rest of the story, detailing how Olive wanted to be an author, see the ocean, and befriend Martha.
You might have seen a lot of memes joking about how male authors often try and fail to write female protagonists. There’s a huge focus on appearance and romantic narratives, to the point where the character feels less like a person and more like a caricature. Olive’s Ocean does not make these mistakes. Any reference made to women’s bodies focus on humanity more than sex—Godbee is insecure about her hands, Martha is insecure about her hair color, the list goes on. And while Martha’s story does have a romantic subplot, it’s not the primary focus of the book. Henkes (who happens to be a man) took the time to emphasize the humanity of the story’s female characters, and I appreciate that a lot.
What’s also noteworthy about Olive’s Ocean is that it’s a different kind of family vacation story. Most of the time, these are comedies where everything goes drastically wrong, yet it brings the family closer together and they have a good time anyway. Think The Mitchells vs. The Machines or We’re the Millers or A Goofy Movie. Although there is some dysfunction in the Boyle family, it’s never exaggerated and it doesn’t bring the story to a feel-good “family is important” ending.
If anything, Olive’s Ocean is about the inevitability of death and coming to terms with the realization that nothing lasts forever.
“The world was changing before Martha’s very eyes, and she hated it.”
The book is written with the intimacy of a childhood memory. Of being in a place that has always been safe and happy, and holding onto that safety and happiness for as long as possible. This is what Martha finds herself doing when death follows her to the ocean. And it’s not just Olive’s memory that haunts her. There’s Godbee’s premonition that this could be their last summer together, Jimmy’s documentary with a segment explicitly focusing on death, and Martha almost drowning in the ocean when she stumbles at a drop-off.
Growing up is both sad and exciting, especially when you’re a kid. Exciting because you get to have new experiences and you feel closer to figuring out who you want to be and who you can become. Sad because there are parts of you and your life that you have to leave behind in the process. And this sadness is reflected both in Godbee’s aging and in Olive’s untimely death. With each step we take, we’re one step closer to the grave.
Everyone comes up with their own ways to make peace with this truth, and some of those methods are healthier than others. One would be hard-pressed to argue that Martha has found the answer at the end of Olive’s Ocean. In a way, it seems she’s still holding onto what she can for as long as she can in the final pages. And yet, it also seems she’s at least come closer to finding out what she can do. How to keep moving towards the things she wants for herself, and also to treasure what she has while she has it.
Final rating: 4.8/5
Many thanks for reading.
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