Safe Harbor
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
An uplifting novel in verse about an immigrant girl adjusting to life in the US through her love of nature, music, and poetry, by the award-winning author of The Bridge Home
When Geetha and her mom move from India to Rhode Island after her parents’ divorce, they leave everything Geetha loves behind—her family, her friends, her dog, and all that’s familiar. As if that’s not hard enough, Geetha is bullied at her new school for her clothes, her food, and her English (who knew so many English words could be spelled or pronounced differently in the US—or just be altogether different!). She finds some solace in playing her flute and writing poetry, and even more when she meets Miguel, a kid with whom she has a lot in common, and the two of them help rescue an injured harp seal stranded on the beach. But Geetha can feel her anger building over lots of things—careless people who pollute the sea and hurt animals, and her mom for making her move. She’s never been so sad and angry. She can see a lot of her fears mirrored in the injured seal when she visits it at the Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center, and this broadens her understanding of survival skills. And when she and Miguel start a beach-clean-up venture, she’s surprised to find how many kind kids are out there. Geetha is torn as the time comes to let the seal go, knowing she’ll miss him, but wanting the best for him. She’s learning to live with mixed feelings and accept that while there will always be rough waters, there are plenty of safe harbors too.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Aquatic pollution and marine life conservation propel this fish-out-of-water verse novel. Following tween Geeta's parents' divorce, Geeta and her mother, who is studying for her doctorate in psychology, emigrate from Chennai, India, to the U.S., seeking a fresh start. Afraid of triggering Amma's depression, Geeta squelches her anger at being uprooted. Their apartment complex—"squat gray buildings.../ on a narrow gray street below a dull gray sky"—is close to the ocean, but unlike the Bay of Bengal, Narragansett Bay is empty and cold. School is no better, especially when a "shiny-smile" girl targets Geeta with daily bullying. A fledgling friendship with Latinx-cued local Miguel seems doomed following initial miscommunication, but the two later reconnect when trying to save an injured baby harp seal. They name him Santo and learn that he's drifted from his usual habitat due to global warming. Issues surrounding her parents' separation, Amma's mental health, and the effects both have on Geeta's own life, are somewhat dampened by familiar plotting. Venkatraman (Born Behind Bars) centering adult women of color in STEM spaces, including a veterinary technician and Miguel's oceanographer mother, who act as role models for Geeta add an empowering undertone. Ages 10–up.
