CB: Becca at Sea - Ages 9+

“One girl’s winter, spring and summer of wonder and growth on a glorious northwest coast island.” — Kirkus

Becca has often gone with her parents to visit Gran at her rustic cabin by the sea. But this year Becca’s mother is expecting a baby, and Becca visits her grandmother on her own. The prospect of spending time at Gran’s — with her peculiar plumbing and ridiculous Scrabble rules — is hardly appealing.

Then, on her very first night, Becca finds an oyster full of pearls. One pearl for every adventure to come?

As her mother’s pregnancy progresses, Becca returns to the island again and again. And through a busy parade of visiting relatives — some welcome, some not — she faces the cacophony of the annual herring run in a leaky dinghy, is kissed by a seal, scales a cliff, sails a boat for the first time and goes skinny-dipping in a sea of luminescence. And by the time her parents arrive with the new baby, she realizes that adventures, and even friends to share them with, may have been right under her nose the whole time.

Deirdre Baker has taught children's literature throughout Canada and the U.S. and currently teaches in the English department at the University of Toronto. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.