Larkin on the Shore by Jean Mills - OPTIONAL

Larkin on the Shore by Jean Mills, 310 pages.  Red Deer Press, 2019.  $15.  

Content: Language: R (16 swears; 2 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

16yo Larkin has had a bad year in school, so for the summer she is moving to Nova Scotia to live with her grandmother.  Larkin feels lost and broken, but she slowly builds a relationship with her grandma and befriends a boy named William who has his own secrets.  As Larkin helps her grandma with her bookstore, she begins to feel herself coming back, but then someone starts a fire at the bookstore and Larkin begins to uncover clues as to who might have started it.  

I like Jean Mills writing because her character development feels real and she makes empathetic characters.  If not for the “f’ words, this would be an advisable read.  I loved how Larkin’s family supported her and let her work through her problems without judgement.  This was a feel-good read.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson