A teenager yearns to escape her mundane life and sleepy hometown in Alaska for the excitement that surely awaits her in a bigger city or a college town in the lower forty-eight states in this debut young-adult novel by Pacific Northwest author Meagan Macvie.
Meri Miller feels trapped by the same people and their predictable routines she has known her whole life, and she is growing tired of her own predictable schedule of eating junk food with her best friend at the 7-Eleven, soggy fries and ice cream at the Dairy Queen or sitting through another church sermon. As she begins her senior year of high school, she begins trying new things like going to parties, making out with older boys and dip-netting for salmon.
Graduation can’t come soon enough for a teen who’s ready to be an adult, but the harder Meri tries to plan her escape from the place she’s known her whole life, the troubles of adulthood, family and responsibility start to force their way into her life and threaten to derail her plans. Her grandmother gets sick, her brother gets hurt and her best friend is never around when she needs her. There are times when she wants to scream at the top of her lungs, but screaming doesn’t seem to solve the problems of adolescence.
Macvie writes in a revealing, personal manner that alternates between biting journal entries, heartfelt letters to family members and a thoughtful introspection that challenges her own dissatisfaction. Many times I felt as though I was still a high school freshman, reading my big sister’s diary—simultaneously embarrassed and intrigued to read what happens next.
Teenagers tend to practice adult-ish behaviors around each other to prove they are mature, like getting drunk, cursing insults and getting into jealous fights, but once we become adults we come to understand these childish behaviors are marks of grown-up bodies with underdeveloped minds. Real adulthood is racked by the burdens of compromise and responsibility, and by the end of Macvie’s “The Ocean in My Ears,” we begin to see Meri turn toward the path of mental and emotional maturity as her character comes of age in a world that has yet to discover the Internet or social media.
Pacific Northwest Book Review
On the last summer before her senior year of high school, Meridith “Meri” Miller sets off to find what Soldotna, Alaska has to offer, which is not much. She spends time with her best friend and Charlie–who is quite the character–and explores relationships with boys, goes to parties, to work, and to the movies. Aside from those activities, she dreams of the day she can pack her bags and move the heck away from this small Alaskan town. And she sees college as this escape.
Macvie beautifully captures the raw spirit of young love, friendship, and family through the interactions and the mixed writing methods she uses to characterize Meri. Meri’s voice is sharp and engaging, making the book’s narrative strong. And the charm of Dairy Queen-hopping and other aspects of small-town life are endearing. Macvie made another excellent choice in placing the novel in the 1990s, allowing for letter writing and landline phone calls instead of the texting that takes place in a lot of recent YA novels. For me, part of the appeal of this book arises from the normalcy of the events. While not every teenager deals with the same family issues, friend drama, or boy problems, the day-to-day nature of the novel aids in the reader’s understanding of Meri’s reality and in relating to her circumstances. But, for some readers, this pacing could draw out the experience of the book and might make it a multi-day read (not a bad thing&). The only major pitfall for me as a reader was that I felt as though some of the stakes raised in the second half of the novel were life happening to Meri, and not Meri experiencing life. Too much almost happened too fast, and some of it seemed like it was placed just to add another experience for Meri to go through instead of to build on the natural feeling mentioned early. That being said, I rather enjoyed the book and found it suitable and a good read for older young adults.
San Francisco Book Review
A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl has the potential to be incredibly cliche—but when you place it in Alaska, and add in dealing with the death of a beloved grandmother and family stress, finding your way as a teen becomes real. The cover is gorgeous, the writing is sharp and incisive, and the slightly irreverent tone makes this book one I’m really excited about. Besides, it’s set in the 1990s, which makes me nostalgic for my own teenage years, and made it really fun to read. A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl has the potential to be incredibly cliche—but when you place it in Alaska, and add in dealing with the death of a beloved grandmother and family stress, finding your way as a teen becomes real. The cover is gorgeous, the writing is sharp and incisive, and the slightly irreverent tone makes this book one I’m really excited about. Besides, it’s set in the 1990s, which makes me nostalgic for my own teenage years, and made it really fun to read. —Jaime Herndon
—Kirkus, Starred Review
“As Meri learns to trust her gut instincts in a variety of situations, Macvie movingly explores the ever-shifting highs and lows of adolescence.” —Publishers Weekly
“The 11 New YA Novels You Need To Watch Out For In November 2017” —Caitlin White, Bustle
“Macvie deftly captures the painful but necessary lessons about family, friendship, love and being true to oneself that mark adolescence.” —Amy Wang, The Oregonian
VERDICT A strong debut novel featuring memorable, relatable characters making adult decisions at the edge of high school in a fantastically drawn Alaskan setting.” —Elizabeth Nicolai, School Library Journal
“Meri's first-person account is strikingly original, with frank discussion of sexual experiences, religious posturing, and stilted family dynamics.” —Booklist
“The cover is gorgeous, the writing is sharp and incisive, and the slightly irreverent tone makes this book one I’m really excited about. Besides, it’s set in the 1990s, which makes me nostalgic for my own teenage years, and made it really fun to read.” —Jaime Herndon, BookRiot
“Macvie writes in a revealing, personal manner that alternates between biting journal entries, heartfelt letters to family members and a thoughtful introspection that challenges her own dissatisfaction. Many times I felt as though I was still a high school freshman, reading my big sister’s diary—simultaneously embarrassed and intrigued to read what happens next.” —Pacific Northwest Book Review
“As Alaskans know, our state has a very high rate of sexual and domestic abuse, if not, perhaps, the highest teen birth rate, as Meri claims. "The Ocean in My Ears" brings the reality of this to readers in a way that stacks of reports never can.” —Nancy Lord, Anchorage Daily News
“I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again—I am such a sucker for books set in Alaska.” —Dahlia Adler, Barnes & Noble
“Set in 1990, this look at a small town girl feeling trapped, frustrated, and ready to explore bigger horizons will appeal to fans of Carrie Mesrobian’s Just a Girl and other realistic YA where the main plot is the day-to-day existence of a teenager just trying to figure it all out.” — Amanda MacGregor, Teen Librarian Toolbox School Library Journal
“In The Ocean in My Ears , Meagan Macvie has given us an unforgettable evocation of life and love in Soldotna, Alaska...” —Mary Clearman Blew, author of This Is Not the Ivy League
“What makes Meagan Macvie’s The Ocean in My Ears so compelling is the way it lands us in the sweet spot between the unique and the universal… This is a gorgeous, funny, and moving novel about the bittersweet end of childhood.” —Scott Nadelson, author of Between You and Me
“The Ocean in My Ears , bursting with angst and dreams of escape, first chagrins us with its honesty, before restoring us with its themes of friendship, love, family, and ultimately faith.” —Missy Anne Peterson, author of Jimmy James Blood
“Meagan Macvie delivers a dead-on coming-of-age tale set in her own tiny hometown of Soldotna, Alaska.” —Dianah H., Powells.com
“ Riding the swells of desire and faith, ambition and heartache, The Ocean in My Ears roars with yearning and beauty.” —Alexis M. Smith, author of Glaciers
“The Ocean in My Ears is an absolutely gorgeous story; an honest, stark coming-of-age journey so intimate you breathe it, with salty, flawed characters and a true romance that will leave you aching with the best kind of hurt.” —Estelle Laure, author of This Raging Light
“With vibrant sensory details, keen wit and extraordinary care for her characters, Meagan Macvie delivers a sharp and moving debut novel.” —Selene Castrovilla, author of Melt The Ocean in My Ears offers all the joys, quirks and brutal realities of being a small-town girl who's keen to find a way out. A funny, sweet and unforgettable look at one girl coming of age in Alaska.” —Carrie Mesrobian, author of Sex and Violence
What makes Meagan Macvie's The Ocean in My Ears so compelling is the way it lands us in the sweet spot between the unique and the universal. Meri's uneasy coming of age mirrors that of girls all over America, but it's also, richly and beautifully, hers alone. As she wrestles with sex and death, love and bigotry, faith and doubt on Alaska's rugged and isolated Kenai Peninsula, we witness her passage from messy adolescence into complex young adulthood, at once transcending the limitations of home and family and embracing them despite their many flaws. This is a gorgeous, funny, and moving novel about the bittersweet end of childhood.
In The Ocean in My Ears , Meagan Macvie has given us an unforgettable evocation of life and love in Soldotna, Alaska, as seen through the eyes of almost-eighteen-year-old Meri Miller, who must find her way through the perils of youth and make painful decisions in a place where, in Macvie's sensitive and utterly authentic prose, landscape becomes language.
Full disclosure: I grew up in the very same Alaskan town as our heroine, Meri Miller, and like her, I wanted nothing more than to see the world and become a writer. So, I can tell you with certainty that Meagan Macvie nails it: the wild landscape, the small-town angst, the poetry born of constant longing. Like I Capture the Castle , but with fish guts and Pentecostal pastors and snowmachines. Meri navigates boys, parents, and bull moose in the Dairy Queen drive-thru with honesty and wit and an abiding tenderness for the places and people she loves. Riding the swells of desire and faith, ambition and heartache, The Ocean in My Ears roars with yearning and beauty.
Meagan Macvie’s novel, The Ocean in My Ears , slams us into a world of teased bangs and hairspray in early 90’s Soldotna, Alaska. The real Soldotna. Behind the tourist images, Macvie shows us a community of fishing, misogyny, and long winters preceded by an ecstatic, grief-stricken summer that only a seventeen-year-old girl, living on the edge of civilization, can experience. The Ocean in My Ears , bursting with angst and dreams of escape, first chagrins us with its honesty, before restoring us with its themes of friendship, love, family, and ultimately faith.
11/01/2017
★ 2017-09-18
