Ebb & Flow
“As we pulled
up to the little wooden house
on the rocky eastern shore
my heart went crazy,
pounding,
like the crashing waves
I could hear in the distance.
I was so happy to be back,
I almost forgot
I was there to forget.”
Winner of:
2019 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
2019 BMO Winterset Award
If there’s one thing Jett has learned over the past year, it’s that fresh starts aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. After a “rotten bad year” in a new town, at a new school, Jett returns to the coast to spend the summer with his Grandma Jo, hoping to forget.
But Jett carries a secret with him. As the summer unfolds, he finds himself examining memories of his past like bits of sea glass—arranging and rearranging them in an effort to make sense of his mistakes.
Told in free verse, this captivating story of betrayal and forgiveness will pull readers in . . . and not easily let them go.
(Kids Can Press 2018 - Publisher's Page)
Reviews
“Smith's sparse language exposes the heart of Jett's anguish and destructive anger; he's a realistically complex character whose emotional development unfolds organically through Smith's quiet storytelling.”
- Publishers Weekly
“... a powerful and poetic story of emotional endurance.”
- School Library Journal [Starred Review]
“ ... one of the year's best books.”
- Quill & Quire [Starred Review]
“Heartbreaking---but uplifting.”
Kirkus Reviews
