The Sea in Winter

Starred review from November 30, 2020
Day (I Can Make This Promise) tackles an important and timely issue in her sophomore novel: how to start over when a dream is no longer possible. Middle schooler Maisie, who is Makah/Piscataway, wants nothing more than to dance—it’s been her obsession since her first ballet lesson at age four. But an accident tears her ACL and isolates her from her ballet friends, and Maisie sinks into a depression that results in slipping grades and familial tensions. Around a family road trip to the Olympic Peninsula, though, Maisie learns how her Makah ancestors brought “their community together, despite horrible events,” and how her mother healed after her father’s sudden death. Slowly, she also takes her own steps toward healing—forgiving a friend, learning to rely on family, and talking about her feelings of loss. Day, who is Upper Skagit, creates tension in this quiet novel by gradually unspooling the backstory of Maisie’s injury and her father’s death in Afghanistan. It’s a contemplative and emotional story of resilience and reinvention whose dedication sums it up well: “To anyone who needs a reminder that pain is temporary.” Ages 8–12.

December 1, 2020

Gr 4-6-Maisie loves ballet. The studio where she dances is her "sanctuary," the place where there are no bad days. Now that she's torn her ACL, a key ligament, she experiences depression. At times, she feels disconnected from her family, and her grades suffer. During an annual midwinter vacation to her stepdad's native home, she realizes that her dreams of being a dancer may not come true. With the help of her family and therapist, Maisie learns that even though life may not work out the way she wants, she can still move forward. Maisie is Native American. Her mother is Makah, her father was Piscataway, and her stepdad is a citizen of the lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. The scenery of the Pacific Northwest is beautifully painted in this insightful #OwnVoices novel, and the text offers some important history. All the characters are relatable, especially Maisie, her stepdad, and brother. However, her experience with depression is very briefly addressed as a passage in her journal and oversimplified. There is also an unrealistic plot point. Recovering from an ACL tear would deter a lot of families from walking on uneven terrain. Yet on their vacation, Maisie and her family walk on rocky beaches, dig for clams in the ocean, "stumble through clay-like mud," walk up winding boardwalks, and trudge through snow. Maisie is so worried about her ability to dance; it doesn't seem plausible that her parents would risk her getting hurt again, which inevitably happens. VERDICT Resonant and well-represented Native American characters, and a few flaws make this a choice for many middle grade collections. Some fans of realistic fiction will enjoy.-Rebecca Fitzgerald, Harrison P.L., NY

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2020
Grades 4-7 Maisie has devoted herself to ballet since she was four, but a torn ACL puts the seventh-grader's dream of dancing professionally on hold, perhaps permanently. Maisie is months into her physical therapy as the story opens, keeping the focus of the narrative on the process of healing, physically and emotionally, as well as learning to move forward, even if that means letting go of certain plans. Such a loss hurts, and Maisie finds herself lashing out at her parents and pushing away her dancer friends in response. It takes a setback during a family outing to connect with the Makah and Klallam sides of her heritage for Maisie to truly face the facts of her situation and find hope in this unexpected detour. Day's contemplative #OwnVoices novel adeptly explores Maisie's grief and identity, both as a dancer and as a Native American, with the latter organically highlighting variations within Native cultures. An inaugural title of the Native-centered imprint Heartdrum, this finds strength and beauty in life's quiet moments and opportunity in the unexpected.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2021
"My ballet studio has always been my sanctuary." In October, twelve-year-old Maisie suffered a devastating knee injury and subsequent ACL surgery. Now it's February, and with hard work and physical therapy she has been cleared to go on a winter-break hiking trip to Washington's Olympic Peninsula with her parents and younger brother. Maisie's family is Native -- her mom is Makah; her father, who has passed away, was Piscataway; her stepfather, Jack, is an enrolled citizen of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and eager for their journey to the Elwha River. On vacation, Maisie, in a rush to prove her recovery and without dealing with the emotional fallout from her surgery, reinjures herself. The story takes place primarily over the course of four days, during which we get to know Maisie's family uncommonly well through quotidian details and worldview-encompassing conversations; secondary characters, too, are nuanced and vividly drawn. Maisie's pain is specific to her experience while being relatable to many readers going through big life changes. Her alienation, denial, and despair make her eventual opening up feel cathartic and narratively earned. The Pacific Northwest setting is atmospherically described and indicative of this Native blended family's formative experiences. An appended author's note provides more details about the Native history touched on in the story. Elissa Gershowitz

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2021
"My ballet studio has always been my sanctuary." In October, twelve-year-old Maisie suffered a devastating knee injury and subsequent ACL surgery. Now it's February, and with hard work and physical therapy she has been cleared to go on a winter-break hiking trip to Washington's Olympic Peninsula with her parents and younger brother. Maisie's family is Native -- her mom is Makah; her father, who has passed away, was Piscataway; her stepfather, Jack, is an enrolled citizen of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and eager for their journey to the Elwha River. On vacation, Maisie, in a rush to prove her recovery and without dealing with the emotional fallout from her surgery, reinjures herself. The story takes place primarily over the course of four days, during which we get to know Maisie's family uncommonly well through quotidian details and worldview-encompassing conversations; secondary characters, too, are nuanced and vividly drawn. Maisie's pain is specific to her experience while being relatable to many readers going through big life changes. Her alienation, denial, and despair make her eventual opening up feel cathartic and narratively earned. The Pacific Northwest setting is atmospherically described and indicative of this Native blended family's formative experiences. An appended author's note provides more details about the Native history touched on in the story.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from November 15, 2020
A Native American (Makah/Piscataway) girl learns about her inner strength. Maisie Cannon's knee injury has disrupted her happy life in Seattle and kept her from doing what she loves most: ballet. Now, instead of practicing arabesques with friends, Maisie's after-school activities have been taken over by physical therapy and awkward conversations with her parents about struggles at school. Ever since her injury, Maisie has been unmotivated and restless in class. During a family trip to the Olympic Peninsula, Maisie's stepfather, Jack (Lower Elwha Klallam), shares a bit of history about contact between the Duwamish people and early colonizers. When Maisie tells him she doesn't know what he's talking about, he asks, "What the heck kind of history are they teaching you in school, then?" She replies, "The Treaty of Paris." It's the same in her other classes; none of what she's learning seems relevant to her. Her grades have dipped, her relationships with her friends feel strained, and she's gotten snippy with her parents. She feels bad about her behavior, but all she can think of is resuming dance classes. This meditative story about a middle school girl's courageous journey toward healing follows a family as they navigate the complexities of supporting a tween's life-changing injury. In her second novel, Day offers a heartening glimpse into the immense patience and love required to endure limitations, build strength, and repair damage. An insightful, stirring read about healing and resilience. (author's note, publisher's note) (Fiction. 9-13)

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