Murray Out of Water

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This contemporary middle grade novel in verse, tinged with magical elements, is perfect for readers of Rebecca Stead, Natalie Lloyd, and Jasmine Warga. When a hurricane hits the Jersey shoreline, twelve-year-old Murray OShea is separated from the one thing that makes her feel understoodthe ocean. What follows is a coming-of-age exploration of queer identity, family, and friendship.

Big-hearted and observant twelve-year-old Murray OShea loves the ocean. Every chance she gets, shes in it. It could be because the ocean never makes her apologize for being exactly who she issomething her conservative family refuses to dobut it could also be because of the secret magic that Murray shares with the ocean. Though she cant explain its presence, the electric buzz she feels from her fingertips down to her toes allows her to become one with the ocean and all its creatures, and it makes Murray feel seen in a way she never feels on land.

So when a hurricane hits Murrays Jersey Shore home, she and her family are forced to move in with relatives a state over. Being this far from the ocean, Murray seems to lose her magic. And stuck in a house with her family, she can no longer avoid the truths shes discovering about herselflike how she feels in the clothes her mom makes her wear, or why she doesn’t have boys on the brain like other girls her age.

But its not all hurricanes and heartache. Thankfully, Murray befriends a boy named Dylan, who has a magic of his own. When Murray agrees to partner with him for a youth roller-rama event in exchange for help getting her magic back, the two forge an unstoppable bondone that helps Murray further see her true self and find community for the first time in her life.