Bookanistas: MOONGLASS by Jessi Kirby

Plot without spoilers...The summer after Anna’s junior year, she and her father move back to the beach where her parents met and fell in love—a place rife with memories that threaten to force them both to face difficult truths about her mother’s death.

Of literary interest...Mermaid mythology and imagery float throughout the novel like bits of poetry. It’s very cool to see mermaids, often used as a fantasy element, worked so seamlessly into a very contemporary YA novel. Jessi Kirby’s descriptions of the ocean, collecting sea glass, surfing and scuba diving are fantastic—I feel like I’m right beside Anna in the water even though I’m personally a shark-phobic mediocre swimmer in reality. Now I’m a surfer in my mind!

Finally, just gotta say…I love the way friendships are built in this novel—between Dad and Andy, Anna and Ashley, Anna and Jillian—each based on a different sort of connection, a different need. Also, Tyler is H.O.T. I think this would be a gorgeous read alongside Gayle Forman’s Where She Went, which is another study of the long tendrils of grief and the way they make us who we are.

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Shelli Johannes-Wells gives us THE ROYAL TREATMENT


Elana Johnson hosts a blog tour stop for 101 SUCCESS
SECRETS FOR GIFTED KIDS with a giveaway

Shannon Messenger adores THE DAY BEFORE plus a giveaway

Carolina Valdez Miller is passionate about POSSESSION and gives away an ARC

Beth Revis shares some SOLSTICE cover love

Lisa & Laura Roecker marvel over MOONGLASS

Megan Miranda and Veronica Rossi delve into DIVERGENT

Shana Silver shows her desire for DEMONGLASS

Carrie Harris is PUTTING MAKEUP ON DEAD PEOPLE

Sarah Frances Hardy wants to be just LIKE MANDARIN