MAKE A LITTLE WAVE

Eighth grader Savannah Braden learns that the path to effective activism is bumpy.

Sav has just moved from Orlando to Sandy Dune, Florida. While the rest of her family adjusts easily, Sav misses her best friend, Maisy, and has new-kid-at-school jitters. Fortunately, she isn’t self-conscious about her cochlear implants. Sav was born with hearing loss and is comfortable explaining her implants to people. When her father announces he’s booked the family for a shark-watching dive, Sav is terrified. She’s scared of sharks and afraid of being submersed in water. Her implants can’t get wet, so she’d need special, expensive covers for them—and anyway, she relies on her sense of sight and “knowingness”; she’s sure she’d become disoriented in the darkness underwater. A disturbing encounter with shark fishing propels Sav into learning more about sharks’ role in the ecosystem, which then moves her to become an advocate for their survival. Initially, Sav’s combative form of activism gets her into trouble and loses her the few friends she’s made. She struggles with being patient and, in her passion for getting her message across, makes some unwise decisions. Eventually, however, she learns that the goal is to fight for rather than against something. Cerra skillfully weaves fascinating data about sharks and ocean ecosystems into Sav’s emotional journey, making this work appealing to readers who enjoy science and character-driven stories alike. Major characters read white.

A conservation tale with the ability to empower readers.