Josephine Against the Sea by Shakirah Bourne

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I decided to switch things up this week and read a Middle Grade fantasy. And how fitting to end Read Caribbean/Caribbean-American Heritage month with a Caribbean author. Shakirah Bourne is a author from Barbados and I was gifted a copy from Scholastic of the North American version of what my Caribbean friends know as My Fishy Stepmom. 

Josephine is a mischievous little girl who lives in the seaside village of Fairy Vale, Barbados with her father. She has a habit of chasing away every woman her widowed father dates. She plans on it just being the two of them and this year is the year she will make the school cricket team.

One day a mysterious woman shows up on her father's arm. But for some reason this new woman, Mariss isn't succumbing to Josephine's attempted pranks. She immediately senses something is off about the way men and women bend to Mariss' will so easily. And what's with the way the fish act around her?  This pushy woman has forced her way into Josephine's life fairly quickly and is positioning herself to be her new mother.

This book was a good read. It's been awhile since a book had me laughing the way this one did. There was this scene where Josephine tries to sabotage Mariss by pouring wiri wiri pepper into her soup and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for her reaction. If you've ever tasted it you know it is not for the weak! 

I loved how well it showcased Josephine's father's heritage as well. He's an originally from Guyana and not to get too deep into it but some Guyanese people face discrimination in  Barbados (Rihanna talked a little bit about it in an interview last year). I myself have Guyanese family in Barbados so it was a beautiful and familiar thing to hear her Josephine talk about her father's homeland and foods and traditions he brought from there. And there are many people in the Caribbean whose family has roots on other countries and they balance traditions and foods from both.

The characters use Bajan Creole freely and it's not explained or translated. Young readers who aren't of Caribbean heritage will just have to use context clues to figure it out. And they will see that though they live a little differently the children in the Caribbean have many similarities to them as well.

I'm also a lover of any water related mythos and was a big fan of mermaids as a child so that's one of the reasons I wanted to pick up this book. 

This book also deals with grief but in a way that's not preachy while still showing how you never  completely get over loss but slowly do heal. Josephine is pushing every woman interested in her father away because she's afraid he'll move on and forget her mother. There's great conversations in here about talking out your feelings and being able to express grief.

I think the kids will also enjoy the magic and the fast pace. Shakirah Bourne writes in a way that is guaranteed to easily capture even  the most reluctant reader's attention. 

If your children liked The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste they'll love this one. And if you're looking for more Caribbean folklore based books for your children be sure to pre-order A Comb of Wishes.