Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers: TCBR AWARENESS TOUR: The Sea in Winter by Christine Day

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're hosting a stop along The Children's Book Review tour starring a new(ish) release via Heartdrum, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers. The title is not something that truly stands out on its own (though the cover is starkly gorgeous!), but the story within will touch your heart in so many ways. Ladies and gents, Middle Grade Fiction fans of all ages, may I presents today's blog tour guest and book of choice...

The Sea in Winter

Christine Day

9780063078222

Heartdrum

About the book...

It’s been a hard year for Maisie Cannon, ever since she hurt her leg and could not keep up with her ballet training and auditions.

Her blended family is loving and supportive, but Maisie knows that they just can’t understand how hopeless she feels. With everything she’s dealing with, Maisie is not excited for their family midwinter road trip along the coast, near the Makah community where her mother grew up.

But soon, Maisie’s anxieties and dark moods start to hurt as much as the pain in her knee. How can she keep pretending to be strong when on the inside she feels as roiling and cold as the ocean?

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What did I expect going into this one?

Honestly, I'm not certain. I think I was rather curious to see how the title played out, the significance of it, and what the overall message of the story would be. I read the "about" when the tour opportunity came along, but had since forgotten the ins and outs, and rather unlike me, didn't read the back cover prior to starting. So, you might say, I was in a sea of mystery, waiting to discover treasure of my own...and boy did I ever.

I'm not ashamed to admit this book had me in tears. Yes, several times in fact, I was so moved by Maisie's journey, so touched by her struggles, so confident in my own recognition of having been there too at various points in my own life that I was connected to her full heartedly. She was just a young girl reaching for her dreams, and fate, circumstances, a moment of careless freedom that should have been fine, turned everything south, leaving her unmoored in a wintery sea (often described as cold, choppy, and lonely). Her friends were all connected to her dream. Her life was fully focused on one day dancing before an audience as the prima in a show she was destined for. What was she to do when the unexpected sidelined her...but try, try again? It wasn't the trying that was the problem, but the pushing of things too far, too fast. The allowance of all the hurt she was feeling, both physically and mentally, to get the better of her. Alone, she may have continued to be the hurt person that hurt others...but with the help of her family, once she lets them in whether she wants to or not, she can take the first steps needed to find herself, her center, and her possibilities once again.

OMG...okay, I need to stop now because I'm seriously tearing up just typing this. Suffice it to say that there is SO MUCH HEART, SO MUCH UNDERSTANDING, SO MUCH of the things that everyone feels in some fashion at some time while struggling to figure out up from down once again that it's a book that really needs to be in the hands of young readers...AND beyond. It carries messages of not only acceptance and validation of the various emotions we go through, but also the strength found in familial and ancestral ties, the courage we can glean from our histories, the power of choice, and the impact we can have on not only our world, but that of others. Do yourself a favor, grab a copy for yourself, and share it with a friend...I think you'll be amazed at the doors it just might open up.

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About the author...

Christine Day is the author of The Sea in Winter and I Can Make This Promise, which was a best book of the year from Kirkus, School Library Journal, NPR, and the Chicago Public Library as well as an American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book and a Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book.

You can visit her online at www.bychristineday.com

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Enter for a chance to win a set of two books by Christine Day, including The Sea in Winter.

One (1) grand prize winner receives:

A hardcover copy of The Sea in Winter by Christine Day

A hardcover copy of I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day

Four (4) winners receive:

A hardcover copy of The Sea in Winter by Christine Day

The giveaway begins January 5, 2021, at 12:01 A.M. MT and ends February 5, 2021, at 11:59 P.M. MT.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Special thanks to Bianca at The Children's Book Review for the chance to bring this tour to you and to the Harper Collins Publishers team for the ARC for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, the publisher, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. Be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the tour for more bookish fun...

TOUR SCHEDULE

Jan 5

Some the Wiser

https://somethewiser.com

Review

Jan 6

Lisa's Reading

https://lisasreading.com

Book List

Jan 7

Life Is What It's Called

www.lifeiswhatitscalled.blogspot.com