Deep Breaths

This is a coping strategy I tell my students to use all the time.  If you're overexcited, angry, frustrated,whatever, deep breaths often work.  Ben, the main character in M.H. Herlong's The Great Wide Sea, really really needed to take some deep breaths.

Ben is the oldest of three boys, he and his family live near a lake and are big fans of sailing. Things seem very happy except, a la Disney movie, you don't get to see very much of that happy.  When Ben's mom is killed suddenly in a car accident his dad decides to sell the house and sail around the Bahama's for a year.

But sailing around the world is not the jolly adventure you think it would be. Not only is sailing really hard work, but boats are small and three boys who have just lost their mother and a husband who has lost his wife have allllll the feels.  All of these feelings can create pretty high tension aboard the boat.

The Great Wide Sea left me feeling much like I did after watching the movie Unbroken.  My main feeling throughout the story was, "how much more can this person possible take?"

I thought this was an authentic, heart-wrenching, emotional story. All of that makes The Great Wide Sea worth reading but not necessarily an enjoyable read.  It is a powerful story but it's not the kind of story that gives you all the warm fuzzies.  

Making it through...that's kids stuff.