9780060834944
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Olive’s Ocean audiobook

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Olive’s Ocean Audiobook Summary

A brilliant, touching coming-of-age story, and a Newbery Honor Book.

Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends, but they weren’t. Weeks after a tragic accident, all that is left are eerie connections between the two girls, former classmates who both kept the same secret without knowing it.

Now, even while on vacation at the ocean, Martha can’t stop thinking about Olive. Things only get more complicated when Martha begins to like Jimmy Manning, a neighbor boy she used to despise. What is going on? Can life for Martha be the same ever again?

Multiple award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Kevin Henkes brings his insightful, gentle, real-world insight to middle grade novels, including:

  • Billy Miller Makes a Wish
  • Bird Lake Moon
  • The Birthday Room
  • Junonia
  • Olive’s Ocean
  • Protecting Marie
  • Sun & Spoon
  • Sweeping Up the Heart
  • Two Under Par
  • Words of Stone
  • The Year of Billy Miller
  • The Zebra Wall

Other Top Audiobooks

Olive’s Ocean Audiobook Narrator

Blair Brown is the narrator of Olive’s Ocean audiobook that was written by Kevin Henkes

Blair Brown, a veteran of the New York theater, received 5 Emmy(r) nominations for her starring role in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.

About the Author(s) of Olive’s Ocean

Kevin Henkes is the author of Olive’s Ocean

Subjects

The publisher of the Olive’s Ocean is Greenwillow Books. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Emotions & Feelings, Juvenile Fiction, Social Issues

Additional info

The publisher of the Olive’s Ocean is Greenwillow Books. The imprint is Greenwillow Books. It is supplied by Greenwillow Books. The ISBN-13 is 9780060834944.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Scott

January 17, 2014

I don't read a lot of young adult fiction, and it's not because I don't like it. What I have read in this genre I have liked, and there are young adult authors doing stuff in the genre that is phenomenal. I just haven't read much of it. I'm not sure why.I think part of the problem, for me, is that it is such a huge genre. Young adults are a strong and powerful demographic amongst book-buyers. I'm actually an oddball: adult male. As a demographic, we simply don't buy, or read, a lot. Most of the books that are being published are being targeted towards children of toddler age to late-teens. Just go to your local bookstore and see: one of the largest sections in the store is almost invariably the children's area, which often includes a large section devoted to teens. And within that large genre of "young adult" are the many subcategories: teen romance, teen fantasy, teen action/adventure, teen nonfiction. Many of these cross over into each other ("Twilight", for example, is both teen romance AND teen fantasy), befuddling the whole issue for us adults. It's such a huge genre, I simply don't know where to start.Thankfully, my wife and I recently did something that helped me become a more discerning consumer when it comes to books and helped me figure out a starting point for young adult fiction: we had a kid. A little girl, to be exact.I can only speak for myself, and as a guy, when I say that I honestly didn't read a lot of "girl" fiction growing up. Other than some Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary, there was a whole slew of books I ignored on bookstore shelves. The covers clued me in. They usually had pictures of girls looking in mirrors or standing on the beach or rocking out with their other girlfriends with their Walkmans (Yes, I'm dating myself). I had no interest in these books, because they most likely involved stuff like dating and menstruation and tear-jerky death-bed scenes of beloved grandparents. My tastes ran more toward "Choose your own adventure", Encyclopedia Brown, and books with spaceships and aliens on the cover.But I have a little girl now, and it's been an exciting prospect putting together a collection of books that she will, hopefully enjoy. Right now, it's mostly picture books, but I have started thinking about the future and some of the books that she may encounter in her middle school and high school career. Thanks also to my wife, who has introduced me to a wide variety of books that I had either never wanted to read or never knew existed. She proudly admits to having read most, if not all, of the Babysitters Club series. She read a few Sweet Valley High books, too. These books literally terrify me...So, I started simple. I picked up a random book that looked like it would appeal to girls but that wasn't so "in-your-face" girly, if you know what I mean. While it was written by a man (possible red flag), it was also a Newberry Honor Book. I knew that the Newberry Awards awarded the best in children's and young adult fiction, so that showed promise. I honestly didn't know what to expect. To be honest, I didn't expect much. What could be that profound about middle school age kids? I've taught middle school. They are mostly cretins. And/or flibberdijibbits. They are mostly silly and annoying creatures who have serious hormone issues.I did NOT expect to like it as much as I did, nor be as profoundly moved by the story as I was. Kevin Henkes, the author of "Olive's Ocean", has created a short but powerful, and sweetly honest, little novel about a young girl dealing with a myriad of adult issues all thrown at her at once.The protagonist is 12-year-old Martha Boyle, who is about to go on family vacation to visit her grandmother. Just before leaving, she is visited by the mother of a young girl in her class who recently tragically died in a car accident. Martha did not know Olive Barstow well. They were friendly but not friends. Martha rarely ever talked to her. Olive's mother gives her a letter written by Olive, who says some very nice things about Martha in it, including how she would like to be a writer like Martha.This letter haunts Martha for the rest of the novel, most especially because she has only recently decided that she wants to be a writer. She has not shared this fact with anyone, including her best friend or her parents, let alone some girl she barely knew. How did Olive know?As if that wasn't enough to worry about, Martha starts to have feelings for Jimmy Manning, a boy she has known for years but has never looked at in any boyfriend-girlfriend kind of way. Weird.Add to the mix slightly dysfunctional but loving parents, a grandmother who repeatedly hints that she may be dying, a yucky older brother, and an annoying little baby sister.There is much to love in this book. Henkes has the rare ability to say a lot with a few words. Indeed, his short chapters (some are no more than a paragraph) and beautiful poetic prose make the story flow wonderfully and is perfect for telling Martha's sweet story of growing up and dealing with death and family and love.This is definitely a book that I will gladly put on my daughter's shelf when she is old enough to appreciate it, and I'd recommend it for any young middle school age girl.

JimZ

March 21, 2022

I thought this was a good read. However, it’s really for young adolescents. It won the 2004 Newbery Honor.It’s about a 12-year-old girl, Martha Boyle, who only knows another 12-year-old girl. Olive Barstow, in passing, but we learn in the first chapter that Olive got hit by a bike near her house and died. Olive left a note for Martha that was in her journal -- apparently Martha was the only one who showed her any kindness in school. The note said that in the next grade (next year) she would like to become friends with Martha. Martha is touched by the note and doesn’t quite know what to do about it. What can be done? Olive is dead. Plus, she is headed out with her brother and little sister and parents to visit her grandmother who loves near the Atlantic Ocean. It could have gotten sappy near the end but it didn’t, which pleased me. It didn’t treat young adolescents as if they were morons. There were a couple of loose ends at the end of the story where the reader was left wondering what happened to Persons A and B in the book, but hey, that’s life! I think it’s a good book for young adolescents to read. I’d say for a YA book, it is 3.5 stars which rounded up is 4 stars in my book! Review;• https://bannedbookbrigade.wordpress.c... • https://blog.mugglenet.com/2018/01/bo...

elissa

March 15, 2008

This has been on my list of books to read for a long time, and it was an excellent and very quick read. I didn't WANT to put it down and go to sleep last night, but had to finish it this morning. It's a very cozy family story, with tragedy threatening, as it often does in real life. I think the reason this took me so long to read is that it came out the year that my grandma died. From reading Henkes' SUN & SPOON, I knew that he writes superbly about relationships between grandparents and grandchildren, and that I wouldn't be able to take that poignancy for a few years. I was right to wait, but I'm glad that it was time for me to read this. I won't forget Martha and Godbee anytime soon.

Christine

July 09, 2016

Kevin Henkes created a tale that so closely resembles that awkward time that many girls experience during adolescence. There is so much drama in everything that happens, and no one ever seems to understand your suffering, especially not your parents. In the character of Martha, many young girls will be able to find a piece of themselves, and realize that you can go on and you are not alone in the journey. I cannot believe that this is a frequently challenged book. There is so much to relate to in this story. I am not so old that I can forget how hard it feels to be a teenager with hormones that make you crazy and not realize that this book chronicles the time in a child’s life when they are recognizing adult things and are suddenly not so childish anymore in some aspects.

~me~

January 07, 2008

I LOVE this book. A tragic accident can sometimes bring you to see who you are and how you can be. That's what Oliva's Ocean teaches you along with the beauty of the word that float off every page.

Ronyell

April 14, 2012

I have been reading many works by Kevin Henkes ever since I was a child, but they were all children’s books like “Chrysanthemum,” “Sheila Rae the Brave” and “Owen” and I had enjoyed every one! Now, this is the first time I have read one of Kevin Henkes’ works that is actually aimed at teens and the first book I have read from Kevin Henkes’ teen reads collection is “Olive’s Ocean!” “Olive’s Ocean” is a Newbery Honor book by Kevin Henkes and it details the turbulent life of Martha Boyle after the death of a schoolmate Olive Barstow. “Olive’s Ocean” may have some slow scenes, but it is truly a heartwarming experience for people who have lost their loved ones.Martha Boyle was a normal 12-year-old girl until one day, a classmate named Olive Barstow was killed by a car while she was riding her bicycle on Monroe Street. Olive’s death has truly affected Martha, even though she never really knew Olive and so, to get Olive’s death off of Martha’s mind, Martha and her family (her father, her mother, her brother Vince and her baby sister Lucy) all decided to spend their summer vacation on Cape Cod where Martha’s grandmother, Godbee resided. However, Martha will soon realize that her life might change forever when she meets up with the Manning boys (Jimmy, Tate, Todd, Luke and Leo).For a long while now, I have been reading many young adult books that ranged from young adult books dealing with a scary and freaky dystopian future like “The Hunger Games” or young adult books that deal with teenagers that have supernatural powers like “Vampire Academy” and “Harry Potter.” Now finally, I have come across a young adult book that is all about the dark yet realistic life of a normal teenager (or a preteen in this case) and how she deals with a troubling issue. I have always loved Kevin Henkes’ writing in his children’s books as they depict real-life situations in a cute and funny way, but his writing in “Olive’s Ocean” depicts real life in a brooding yet realistic way, which was quite a surprising turn for my reading experience! Kevin Henkes’ writing is truly sad yet beautiful at the same time as we truly feel for Martha Boyles’s situation about dealing with the death of a classmate that she barely know. I actually have that same experience that Martha had as many of my classmates in high school had died and even though I never knew any of them, their deaths really left a huge impact on me since I was upset that they would die at such a young age. What was so unusual about this book is that even though Olive Barstow’s name is in the title, the story really revolves around Martha Boyle and how she deals with Olive’s death and it is rare for me to see a book that has a character’s name in the title, but the book does not really revolve around that person, but about how their deaths affected the person who knew them. I also loved the way that this book was set up as the pages look like something that came out of a journal and each chapter details the daily activities that Martha does during her stay at Cape Cod. I really loved the relationship that Martha shares with her grandmother Godbee as it reminds me of my relationship with my grandmother and it was great that Kevin Henkes was able to showcase this relationship extremely beautifully.The reason why I gave this book a four star rating is because there are some slow scenes in the story that made me feel a little bored about the direction that the story was taking. Sometimes the narrative would drone on a bit before it got to the interesting parts of the story. Also, I kind of wish there was more romance in this novel since I am a huge romance buff, but I felt that the romance in this book was not really needed since the main theme of this book was of Martha dealing with the death of Olive. Also, one of the reasons why this book was often on the banned books list is that it contains some strong language that is a bit strong for a young adult book, even though this would not bother me and it was only like one or two mild curse words.Overall, “Olive’s Ocean” is a great story about dealing with the death of a loved one and how you have to enjoy life while you are still alive. Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Brooke

October 20, 2008

I really enjoyed Olive's Ocean. the story was very good and it was different then most books. one thing that was a little wierd was i read this book right after a 7th grader at our school passed away... it was a big coincedence for me. i would recommend this book to most everyone.

Michelle

May 23, 2014

This is a book that sneaks up on you with its quiet beauty. Told in first person narrative, it is the story of one summer in the life of twelve year old, Martha. Just before her family leaves for their yearly summer vacation at Godbee's, her 80 year old grandmother, house on the shore, Martha is paid a visit by the mother of a recently deceased classmate whom she did not know well. Olive, the title character, is only heard from once in the novel and only through her voice in a diary page that her mother gives to Martha. In this page, Olive shares that one of her goals for the next school year is to get to know Martha because she is one of the nicest girls in the school. Martha holds this information close and tries to make sense of it as she thinks about death - not just Olive's as her grandmother is very old - and her blossoming life. There are beautiful moments with her grandmother, some romance, and a plethora of everyday family dynamics that are shared through Martha's maturing eyes. Along the way she experiences new things, both wonderful and devastating, and returns home with a new resolve about the person she hopes to grow into. This would be a great book for middle school students to discuss themes like death, identity, and relationships. Martha, and Olive, declare a desire to be writers, which opens the possibility of a writing assignment in which students share what they hope to be when they are adults.

alisonwonderland (Alison)

August 27, 2022

Newbery Honor. Coming-of-age story. The tender feelings of a twelve-year-old girl. I think that the summer I turned twelve and the subsequent year I spent in junior high school was truly one of the hardest years of my life. The details were different than Martha's experience, but her feelings felt familiar and very real.

Nadia

January 30, 2015

I have no words for this book because they will do it no justice.

Megan

June 27, 2022

this is my comfort book, i always go back to it no matter how old i get3/26hoped i would get tired & fall asleep but i read it all through the early morning till the sun rose (at least i can tell it rose behind the curtain). always a new feeling, a new discovery of myself, i see myself in martha & in olive. i see my family in her family. olive’s ocean means endless things.

Lisa

September 29, 2008

I thought this was a good book for a middle school boy or girl. It was a realistic fiction story that tugged at my heart strings. Read the first couple of pages and you will know what I mean!

Hallie

September 11, 2019

3.5

Natalie

April 29, 2022

Very nice and easy read

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