One with the Waves

Following her father’s death, 15-year-old Ellie Brzozowski is sent from her home in New York City to live with an aunt and uncle in Southern California in this reflective 1980s-set exploration of loss, friendship, and family. Feeling unmoored and struggling to find her place outside of an urban landscape, Ellie is initially resistant to her new home’s laid-back lifestyle. But Ellie is eventually drawn to the ocean, compelled by the surfers—the “small black dots... scattered over the horizon.” Aunt Jen, Uncle Charlie, and their surfing friends provide Ellie with a surfboard and a wet suit, encouraging her to pursue this newfound interest. Soon, Ellie feels at one with the water; as she hones her skills and connects with other surfers, she begins processing her grief over her father’s death and settling into her new normal. Plotlines surrounding substance use and the early days of the AIDS epidemic lack nuance, causing narrative themes to falter. Still, Andrews’s prose is strongest when focusing on Ellie’s relationship with the ocean, describing her moments of solitude with a quiet wonder that propels this ode to the healing power of surfing. Ellie and her family are of Polish descent. Ages 15–up. (May)