Review and quotes: WAVE (with an update)

"If you don't take the drop, you miss the ride."

Title: Wave by Diana Farid (See update at the bottom of this page!)

Book Beginnings quote: (Note, the print in the book doesn't photograph well,so the photos aren't as clear as I had hoped. Note the shape of each poem and read all the way to the bottom of the page/photo.)

Friday56 quote:

 

Summary: (From the publisher)

Thirteen-year-old Ava loves to surf and to sing. Singing and reading Rumi poems settle her mild OCD, and catching waves with her best friend, Phoenix, lets her fit in—her olive skin looks tan, not foreign. But then Ava has to spend the summer before ninth grade volunteering at the hospital, to follow in her single mother’s footsteps to become a doctor. And when Phoenix’s past lymphoma surges back, not even surfing, singing, or poetry can keep them afloat, threatening Ava’s hold on the one place and the one person that make her feel like she belongs. With ocean-like rhythm and lyricism, Wave is about a girl who rides the waves, tumbles, and finds her way back to the shore.

Review: Sometimes the publisher's summary is way better than anything I can think to say. That is the case with this summary. Ava, a Persian-American, lives to surf and loves to sing. But her mother wants her to be a doctor like herself, even though Ava faints at the side of blood. Her life seems to lift and crash down just like waves do as they near the shore. The poetry is so good and the shapes of them remind me of waves and the comings and goings of life on the beach. (Not all are shape/concrete poems, but many are.) 

Ava is surfing with friends -- Up! Ava's father is absent from her life -- down. Ava is asked to sing a solo -- Up! Ava's mom makes her volunteer at the hospital -- down. Ava meets a man at the hospital who introduces her to Rumi poems -- ride that wave! Phoenix, her best friend and fellow surfer seems to be interested in her -- Up! Phoenix's cancer returns -- crash down. Ava wants to fix things but can't -- falling off the board. Ava finds love and acceptance after grief -- climbing back up.

I love this book. Of the ten+ novels-in-verse I've read so far this year, it is my favorite so far. Target audience: 5th grade and up.

Feb. 14, 2023 Update

Wave was selected as the Cybils winner for the novels-in-verse category. I am thrilled. I loved this book so much. Here is what the Round 2 Cybils judges had to say about this winning book:

Wave is everything a verse novel for young readers should be. The story of first-generation Persian-American Ava, caught between her family’s expectations and her own love for surfing, singing, and her friends, is engrossing in its own right. The ancient poet Rumi features prominently within Wave. This is perfect for the narrative as Rumi is both Persian and a poet. His poems are effectively woven in and mentioned by Ava throughout the book. Prejudice, divorce, parental pressure, and grief are balanced beautifully by the brightness of poetry, mixtapes and music, and most of all beloved friends and the joy of riding the waves. “I fall with the song / into the hollow / of the wave, / as it covers me with its curl. / We ride the barrel toward the light.” Having this story told in poems full of beautiful language, careful formatting, and clear voice makes it even better. Poetry and life blend together to make a strong, moving whole that speaks to the universal theme of growing up while still being a story of one unique, captivating heroine. (Cybils Award Winners)

 

-Anne