Book Review: Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Moonglass
Author: Jessi Kirby
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: May 3rd 2011
Review Source: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Sarah Dessen says this “incredible first novel” is “fresh and wise, all at once.”

I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now, I’ve thought maybe my mother drowned in both.
Anna’s life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It’s bad enough that she has to leave her friends behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love—a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface.
While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean’s tide means that nothing—not the sea glass that collects along the shore, and not the truths behind Anna’s mother’s death—stays buried forever.

Prime example of a book you don't want to put down while you are reading it. So beautifully written and inspiring. Kirby used something simple as Mermaids to help understand the message in the story. I'm not going to lie though, at one point I thought Mermaids were going to appear, that's how believable this story is. If you have ever loss someone, reading Moonglass I believe can help you deal with the acceptance of the loss. Yes the story will break your heart but at the same time will mend it back just in a different way. The lines flows so effortless that you don't realize what page your on while reading. Such a powerful book for a debut novel. While reading Moonglass be prepared to be transported to the beach and smell the ocean and hear the waves break on the rocks. That's how vivid Kirby wrote her story. I now want to comb all beaches possible and find sea glass and that special peace of Moonglass. Great summer read and I recommend it to young and old alike. The book brought me nostalgia, I missed being back home on my beaches in Florida and the Caribbean too. 

You meet Anna who has to relocate with her father to small beach town. Turns out its the same town where her father and mother met and she was born. Anna doesn't want to leave where she lives because this was the last place her mother was alive before she disappeared in the ocean. Anna arrives at Crystal Cove and begins her new life. Will Anna be able to leave that guilt behind or will she continue to carry it with her even when she finds out that she is living next to the cottage her mother lived in. Anna begins to make friends and even find a boy she is excited about. Turns out the boy works for her father as a lifeguard and she is off limits. Will Anna be able to adapt to her new beach, friends and sea glass? Read this book, and share it especially if you know of someone who has loss a special person in their lives and blames themselves, this book will be such a positive inspring novel to read.