A Review of Josephine Against the Sea

Josephine Against the Sea
by Shakirah Bourne (Scholastic, 304 pp, ISBN 9781338642087)

Long before this Barbadian writer and filmmaker made her debut in large-scale international publishing, those fortunate enough to read her self-published 2014 collection, In Time of Need, knew she had a knack for telling stories in children’s voices. Josephine Against the Sea, an expanded edition of her CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Literature finalist My Fishy Stepmom, vaults young readers right into the furnace of audacious girlhood. Cricket-loving, opinionated Josephine bridles against the patriarchy of her elders, preferring her father’s company to that of any adult’s — including the would-be interlopers vying for her dad’s hand. When Josephine confronts her father’s femme fatale Mariss, a lady with a serpentine secret, briny bacchanal ensues! Though marketed towards the American middle-grade reading system, this book will soar, flying-fish-style into the library of any curious, culture-focused adventurer. 

 

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 | ISSUE 171 (JULY/AUGUST 2022)