Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Review: Returning to Shore by Corinne Demas

Returning to Shore
9781467713283
 
 
Her mother's third marriage is only hours old when all hope for Clare's fifteenth summer fades. Before she knows it, Clare is whisked away to some ancient cottage on a tiny marsh island on Cape Cod to spend the summer with her father—a man she hasn't seen since she was three.

Clare's biological father barely talks, and when he does, he obsesses about endangered turtles. The first teenager Clare meets on the Cape confirms that her father is known as the town crazy person.

But there's something undeniably magical about the marsh and the island—a connection to Clare’s past that runs deeper than memory. Even her father's beloved turtles hold unexpected surprises. As Clare's father begins to reveal more about himself and his own struggle, Clare's summer becomes less of an exile and more of a return.
 
A quiet book, full of character development over action. The shifting in the relationship between Clare and her father in the amount of time they have together is believable and touching. Some secondary characters are rather superficial, but I found that realistic as well - sometimes people are in and out of our lives too quickly to give them any depth in our impressions. A solid choice for middle or high school libraries and introspective teens.

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