Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes (2003, Hardcover)

My daughter just started to read for enjoyment and not just school work. She loves this book. It kept her interest, she did read it more than once.

Kevin Henkes is one of my favorite children's authors, so I was intrigued when I saw that he had written a book for young acults (a "chapter book" as my children would call it, years ago when they were young children). I enjoyed the book -- it was a very quick read. It was full of teenage thoughts and feelings and the capriciousness that goes with adolescence. It isn't my most favorite book he has authored (that would be "Kitten's First Full Moon"). But it was nicely written and quite profound as much as possible for this audience.
This book is about a young girl who witnesses the death of a classmate. She is sent into emotional turmoil, and goes on a quest to make up for what she perceived as ill-treatment of the friend when she was alive. Does that make sense?