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Overview
When Anna was little, she and her mother used to search for sea glass, but since they looked at night, they called it moonglass. Now, ten years after her mother's mysterious death, her father is working as head lifeguard on the same beach where her mother grew up and her parents first met and fell in love.
Reluctant to get close to anyone (including her father) and not pleased about having to start at a new school, Anna begins to spend more time alone, running the length of the beach and wondering about who her mother really was. After meeting a lifeguard named Tyler, she slowly lets her guard down and together they start exploring the abandoned houses that dot the beach.
But when learning more about her mother's past leads to a painful discovery, Anna must reconcile her desire for solitude with ultimately accepting the love of her family and friends.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"I couldn't put this book down. Kirby's voice is fresh and wise, all at once. An incredible first novel."—Sarah Dessen, New York Times bestselling author of Lock and Key
"Like sea glass, this smooth, radiant debut, reminiscent of Sarah Dessen, sets authentic and sympathetic characters working through a life-changing transformation against the backdrop of a steamy summer romance. Great for beach time—or anytime."
Kirkus Reviews
"Kirby is an author to watch, and her debut will be enjoyed by a large array of teens in search of identity stories."—Booklist
"Well written, with clearly drawn, sympathetic characters, and will be a good read for those dealing with losses of their own."—VOYA June 2011
A poignant book about a teenager seeking answers yet fearful of what she might learn.
—-SLJ, September 2011
Children's Literature -
Anna has always known that something was missing in her life: her mother, who walked out into the ocean one night and never came back. When Anna and her father, a professional lifeguard, move to a different California beach after a job promotion, Anna meets people who know all about her parents, their courtship and early marriage, and her mother's death. Anna struggles with these realizations even as she tries to fit in at her new high school and make friends. Even that is impacted by the reality that many of the young people in the community work as lifeguards and know that Anna's dad is extremely protective of her. But as Anna makes more decisions for herself in terms of going out for cross country and befriending Tyler, a slightly older lifeguard who also goes to her school, she finds that she is also ready to know more about her mother, and what drove her mother to such a heart-rending end. This is a solid book for teen readers, most likely girls, who are looking for a good blend of romance and self-realization. Reviewer: Jean Boreen, Ph.D.Kirkus Reviews
When Anna Ryan was 7, her mother drowned in the ocean, leaving Anna with inescapable guilt and a growing rift with her withdrawn lifeguard father.
After he accepts a job transfer to southern California the summer before Anna's junior year, they end up stationed at the same beach where her father and mother met and fell in love and living beside the abandoned cottage her mother resided in for several summers. The teen's new surroundings, beautifully described in the first-person narration, invite unexpected friendships and a secret relationship with young lifeguard Tyler, who's been warned not to fool around with the boss' daughter. And enveloped by her now-mythical mother's stomping grounds, locals who remember her mother, a growing need for answers about her mother's past and an eerie pull from the ocean itself, Anna's fond memories of collecting sea glass by the light of the moon with a carefree mother turn to anger as she begins to remember details about her troubled mother's "accident." Like sea glass, this smooth, radiant debut, reminiscent of Sarah Dessen, sets authentic and sympathetic characters working through a life-changing transformation against the backdrop of a steamy summer romance.
Great for beach time—or anytime.(Fiction. 12 & up)