One with the Waves
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- CHF 11.00
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- CHF 11.00
Beschreibung des Verlags
Can surfing change your life? For Ellie, it most certainly does. Vezna Andrews’ debut novel is set in 1980s Southern California, where fifteen-year-old Ellie discovers herself through her love of surfing. Born and raised in New York City, Ellie’s world is turned upside down when her father unexpectedly dies and her mother sends her to Manhattan Beach, California to live with her aunt and uncle.
Ellie’s new home is a sharp contrast to the loft in New York City’s garment district where she grew up. Heartbroken about her dad, and worried about her mom, who drinks too much, Ellie doesn’t fit in with the preppie girls at her new Southern California school, who eventually gang up on and bully her. Thankfully, with the encouragement of her aunt and uncle, she discovers surfing, which becomes her passion and her refuge.
While surfing California’s wild coast, Ellie experiences surfing's spiritual, healing qualities, including magical experiences with wild dolphins, whales, and sea lions. Eventually, Ellie finds a group of like-minded friends, develops a crush on fellow surfer Nick, and grows extremely close to her Aunt Jen, Uncle Charlie, and their community of surfers. Through surfing, Ellie develops the confidence and strength needed to navigate her own path in life—surfing literally saves her, and changes her relationship with her mother forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
