The Ocean Within

By V.M. Caldwell

Book Overview

Elizabeth is the newest member of the big and boisterous Sheridan family. They try to make her feel at home, but Elizabeth stays apart. She knows from previous experience in foster homes that one day she'll be sent away.

As the story opens, all the Sheridan kids are headed to the beach for a vacation at their grandmother's house. Elizabeth secretly looks forward to fulfilling one of her private dreams: to see the ocean. The Sheridans, on the other hand, are just too much--too prone to hugging, too loud, too enthusiastic. Only Petey, the youngest boy, is not overwhelming to be with.

Pretty soon Elizabeth has found a favorite perch overlooking the water. But her attitude threatens to ruin everyone's vacation. It's only a matter of time before a showdown between Elizabeth and the grandma she calls "Iron Woman" ensues. Who will win?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1571316248
• ISBN13: 9781571316240
• Release Date: August 1999
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 8 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 8

Customer Reviews

This book is wonderful!

I laughed and I cried. Then I laughed some more. The author has a very insightful view of an eleven year old girl struggling to come to terms with her emotional past, and learn to be apart of a very rambunctious and lovable family. Loved it.

Touching and Revealing

This was another one of those book discussion books. Reccomended to me by a close friend, I picked up The Ocean Within by V. M. Caldwell. This book tells the wonderful story of Elizabeth, an orphan who has been shipped around from foster family to foster family. Finally, Elizabeth meets the Sheridans, a family who wants to adopt her. However, Elizabeth shuts out all the love that the family gives her, when she spends a month with all the kids of the family, because of the great emotional loss that she has suffered. Even 4-year-old Petey, who calls her Turtle to remind him of her shyness, can't completely break down the barrier that stands between Elizabeth and the rest of the world. Even the ocean, the one thing Elizabeth always dreamed of, doesn't make her happy enough to break through her shell. This was the first book I had read about this type of experience, and I found it to be quite touching and revealing. Caldwell wrote this book in a fantastic fashion, showing the true emotions of Elizabeth and all of the Sheridans. This book was phenomanal, and I would openly recommend this book to any and all young adults looking for a good read.

Amazing.

Though sometimes this book got rather confusing, it is evened out by the amazing writing style. I have had a very different life then the protagonist Elizabeth, yet as I was reading this, I felt as though I was a sympathetic friend who had been through the exact same thing. Though at times I felt like shouting "THEY ARE TRYING TO BE NICE TO YOU" outloud, I realized that I was really connected to the book and the characters. Ms. Caldwell made the characters three dimensional, so that you didn't "like" them all the time, and you didn't "hate" them all the time, like real human beings, you could do both.

The Ocean Within

A wonderful book for any child who has had to make big adjustments in his or her life! Elizabeth Lawson is a foster child, and the warm, vital, and noisy Sheridans are her third family placement. When she agrees to let them adopt her, she knows that she will eventually be sent to another home, but the Sheridans have something she wants: a chance to see the ocean. She travels with the family to their grandmother's and is soon swamped by the profusion of siblings and cousins around her who, for reasons Elizabeth can't comprehend, seem to think she's one of them. The brood is presided over by Iron Woman, a disturbing and perceptive threat to Elizabeth's armor of emotional distance. As the summer advances, Elizabeth resists the Sheridan's efforts to make her a part of their family, because she knows that caring for any family when you will eventually have to leave them is a mistake. It is only with Iron Woman's firm and persistent kindness and discipline, and the friendship of the youngest Sheridan, Petey, that Elizabeth's shell begins to crack. This is a wonderfully written book. Caldwell captures exactly the need of a child to protect herself by refusing to connect, as well as Elizabeth's genuine bafflement at the loving way she is treated. The prose is easy to handle and the descriptions of the Sheridans make them very real and three-dimensional to the reader. A definite must-read for older kids, this book can be handled by anyone in 4th or 5th grade up to 12th, depending on their interest and reading ability.5 stars! * * * * *

Caldwell finally hits her shining star.

The Ocean Within is an amazing story about a young girl who knows what it is like to be givin up. When Elizabeth is sent to another foster home she has givin up all hope that she will ever have a real family again. Elizabeths summer vacation starts when she is sent by her new parents to meet her new cousins and new grandmother. Her grandmother lives near the ocean. When she first arrives at the ocean she is quiet and unliked by her brothers and sisters. But that doesn't matter to her because she wants to see the ocean. Through out this book Elizabeth will live through many events that are breath taking and dangerous.