Julia and the Shark

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Julia and the Shark is a deep dive into the emotional world of a 10 year old girl. It handles mental illness in a very delicate way and does a beautiful job of showing it through the child's perspective. How attuned Julia has become to the moods of her parents even though she doesn't have a full understanding of what's going on felt particularly authentic. Es war düsterer, die Themen heftiger als ich erwartet hatte, aber es war auch so ein wichtiges Thema. The best parts for me would be the little facts and the amazing descriptions about what it is like to be out there exploring the oceans, the wildlife and that too with your family. It felt so good and I really wish it was me with my family there.

I cried, I rejoiced and I felt all the feels. This author doesn’t miss (with books or the shots to my heart)Na haar ontroerende Briefjes voor Pelle komt Marlies Slegers met We moeten je iets vertellen, een prachtige jeugdroman over loslaten, acceptatie en liefde. What a gorgeous book - calm, funny, heartfelt, wise, full of the quiet and force of the sea - Ross Montgomery, author of The Midnight Guardians What starts out as an adventure and a few quirky weeks of living in a lighthouse soon turns dark. Why? Well, I don't want to spoil too much but her mother's obsession with the shark and mental health issues take center stage here. Though science and the importance of nature for us humans are also explored in a very nice (non-preachy) way. Een boek met een ontzettende mooie boodschap ❤️ Ook een realistische kijk op het leven m.b.t. mental health issues en wat dit allemaal voor impact kan hebben binnen één gezin.

The writing is purely lyrical and so beautiful. It got me dreaming at times about the beautiful nature during the read. I am so grateful for this! It’s been years I haven’t have been this invested, getting lost in my own head reading a good book. This was a gorgeous story of mental health, friendship, family and realising for the first time that your parents aren’t as unbreakable as you once thought. Writing about topics such as mental health and depression for children is not easy feat but I think Kiran Millwood Hargrave executed it with grace, sensitivity and a brilliant balance of honesty and whimsy. From the local bully with a painful secret to the hidden beauty in the night sky, Julia learns over her summer on the island that everyone has their own story to tell – and that it takes kindness and understanding to hear them.Ik heb geen flauw idee of kinderen vanaf 10 jaar dit ook echt lezen, de beter lezer dan, of dat dit vooral een boek is dat de volwassenen mooi vinden. Terecht overigens, maar niet de oorspronkelijke doelgroep. Als volwassene vond ik het in ieder geval goed en mooi. Er wordt gespeeld met taal, Julia's vader is meer van de getallen en haar moeder een beetje van allebei, het gevoel van Julia komt erg goed naar voren. Iemand met ziekte/stoornis in het gezin treft niet alleen de persoon zelf, maar ook de gezinsleden. Julia zou daarom, net als heel veel andere kinderen, gezien kunnen worden als KOPP-kind (Kinderen van Ouders met Psychische Problemen).

I could see this becoming a modern children’s classic. Julia and her parents (and not forgetting the cat, Noodle) are off on an island adventure to Unst, in the north of Shetland, where her father will keep the lighthouse for a summer and her mother, a marine biologist, will search for the Greenland shark, a notably long-lived species she’s researching in hopes of discovering clues to human longevity – a cause close to her heart after her own mother’s death with dementia. Julia makes friends with Kin, a South Asian boy whose family run the island laundromat-cum-library. They watch stars and try to evade local bullies together. But one thing Julia can’t escape is her mother’s mental health struggle (late on named as bipolar: “Mum sometimes bounced around like Tigger, and other times she was mopey like Eeyore”). Julia thinks that if she can find the shark, it might fix her mother. Julia and her parents have just left their home to spend the summer at a remote lighthouse, far away from anyone they know. Whilst Julia’s Dad is there for work, her marine biologist Mum is there for another reason – she wants to study the elusive Greenland shark, said to live in the waters nearby. Julia's voice is instantly engaging as we go on a journey with her family to Unst, part of the Shetland Islands off Scotland, in search of a rare and very special shark.As Julia settles into their summer, her mother’s search for the shark becomes more and more frantic - she’s running out of time before they have to go home, but her obsession with the creature is beginning to pull her family apart. When Julia decides to save her family, she embarks on a journey through darkness and hope to find her mother again. Snel was voor mij wel duidelijk dat psychische problematiek een rol speelt in dit boek. Julia denkt na over de buien van haar moeder, haar zorgen en schuldgevoel groeien. Uiteindelijk krijgen de afwisselende vrolijke en verdrietige buien een verklaring: een bipolaire stoornis.

I appreciate the multicultural representation and I love the young characters so much. They seem so real! Their voices represent their actual ages quite accurately and I applaud the author for developing these characters so convincingly. Julia and the Shark is deep, beautiful and true. The art shines and the writing soars. A classic from cover to cover. - Eoin Colfer When her father is required to repair an old lighthouse on a remote island, Julia finds herself on a strange and magical summer holiday. Her mother becomes increasingly determined to find the great Greenland shark – an awesome yet elusive creature that soon fills Julia’s thoughts as well. But when her mother’s determination tips over into obsession, Julia is forced to dive into an adventure with hidden depths and turbulent emotional currents which threatens to submerge them all. Harsh winter weather and vague Victoriana bind these eight terrifying new horror shorts showcasing human depravity and grisly murder. Several tales feature cruel men, including Collins’s “A Study in Continue reading »

A mesmerising story of a family, a lighthouse and a quest to find the elusive Greenland shark written by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and illustrated by Tom de Freston. ( Publisher:Hachette Children’s Group). Julia and the Shark is deep, beautiful and true. The art shines and the writing soars – a classic from cover to cover’ Eoin Colfer A beautiful, lyrical, uplifting story about a mother, a daughter, and love - with timely themes of the importance of science and the environment. About This Edition ISBN: Kiran Millwood Hargrave is an award-winning poet, playwright, and bestselling author. Her debut The Girl of Ink & Starswon the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2017 and the British Book Award's Children's Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for numerous awards including the Jhalak Prize, the Branford Boase Award and the Little Rebels Prize. Julia is 9, but talks like a 15 year old and is more intelligent and knows more facts than the average adult. But then, her relationship with her parents is very much the kind of relationship a 9 year old would have with her parents.