Copyright Date:
2023
Edition Date:
2023
Release Date:
05/09/23
Pages:
210 pages
ISBN:
1-643-75311-8
ISBN 13:
978-1-643-75311-9
Dewey:
Fic
LCCN:
2022050444
Dimensions:
21 cm.
Language:
English
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews
Being a middle child is challenging, especially in a very large family.Summer is almost over, and 10-year-old Marina Ali-O'Connor has successfully avoided going out on her family's boats the whole time. All that's left is the Labor Day parade in which all the boats in Sunrise Lagoon get decked out in lights. Marina's moms, concerned about her odd behavior, get her to promise to join that event. Even though she's been on them her entire life and Mom is an expert boater, Marina knows the statistics: Boats are dangerous. Plus, there's no one to look out for her if something goes wrong. Her two older sisters, one adopted and one biological from a previous marriage, are glued to Mom's side, obsessed with her boat business. Her two younger siblings, the twins, demand Mama's attention, with the added wrinkle that they're her biological kids. Meanwhile, Marina doesn't have anyone to cling to or even know much about her background. Mom and her older sisters are White; Mama and the twins are part Syrian (the rest of their ancestry is unspecified), but Marina only knows that her birth mother was Mexican. A new neighbor Marina's age proposes an idea: make Marina someone's favorite in her family so she'll have a safety net. This second series installment focuses on symptoms of severe anxiety emerging within a loving support network. Readers will appreciate the boisterous family dynamics and thoughtful treatment of mental health concerns.Entertaining and satisfying. (Fiction. 8-12)
Return to Sunrise Lagoon in this warmhearted sequel, which finds anxious middle child Marina making waves on her journey to trusting herself.
If you want to get to know Marina Ali-O'Connor, you need to know three things:
One, despite her name, Marina is secretly afraid of the water.
Two, she wanted to be one of the Oldest Siblings, but is stuck smack dab in the middle.
Three, she's pretty certain she's the Extra Ali-O'Connor kid—the forgotten one.
When Boom, a budding filmmaker exactly Marina's age, moves in across the lagoon, she decides that Marina's quest to become someone's favorite Ali-O'Connor would make a perfect documentary. But when each plan goes a little bit wrong, Marina begins to wonder if she'll ever feel like she belongs, or if she'll always be lost in the middle.